Mexico Under Siege

KILLING IS A BLOW TO WITNESS PROGRAM

The Slaying in a Coffee Shop of a Former Police Officer Marks the
Second Recent Death of a Top-Level Informant.

It's risky being a so-called protected witness, especially when the
targets of the criminal investigations are members of powerful
Mexican drug cartels and dirty cops.

The government's witness protection program faced new questions
Wednesday after the fatal shooting in a Starbucks of a former federal
police commander who turned informant after his arrest last year for
suspected drug ties.

Edgar Enrique Bayardo reportedly had been providing Mexican
authorities with information on traffickers based in the northwestern
state of Sinaloa before he died Tuesday in a hail of gunfire here in
the capital.

Federal officials confirmed that Bayardo was a "collaborating
witness," but declined to provide more details. Mexico City
authorities said Bayardo was hit by at least six bullets when a pair
of attackers burst into the Starbucks in a well-to-do neighborhood
called Del Valle.

Authorities said a Bayardo associate and another customer were
wounded during the late-morning attack. The bloody tableau played out
amid a tranquil setting of soft chairs and colorful Christmas decorations.

It was the second time in less than two weeks that a high-profile
witness has turned up dead while feeding information to authorities
about Sinaloa traffickers.

On Nov. 20, Jesus Zambada Reyes, the 22-year-old nephew of the
reputed Sinaloa drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, was found dead in
a government safe house in Mexico City. Authorities said he hanged
himself, but questions swirled over whether he was coerced or killed
by cartel hit men.

Investigators often rely on testimony from criminal suspects to
penetrate the workings of drug gangs. But the Bayardo killing has
reignited doubts about the witness protection program, which was
already dogged by criticisms about the trustworthiness of sworn
accounts from cloaked witnesses.

Skeptics now question whether Mexico's corruption-ridden law
enforcement system can safeguard informants. In particular, the
killing stoked speculation about possible leaks by the
organized-crime unit of the federal attorney general's office, which
Bayardo reportedly had been supplying with evidence on links between
the Sinaloa cartel and ranking federal police.

An editorial in El Universal newspaper Wednesday said a lack of
transparency in Mexico's court system left it vulnerable to abuse by
suspects-turned-witnesses. The Bayardo killing "is one more sign that
the federal government should review the use of this resource," it concluded.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday took over the investigation from
Mexico City officials.

Bayardo, a lawyer who had also been a prosecutor in the central state
of Tlaxcala, was arrested last year on suspicion of taking $25,000 a
month in payoffs from Jesus "El Rey" Zambada Garcia, the brother of
Ismael Zambada and father of the witness who died last month. Jesus
Zambada and his son were arrested together during a raid in October
2008. Bayardo was arrested days after.

Bayardo and the Zambadas, part of the Sinaloa-based alliance that
includes kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, allegedly swapped
information about a rival gang, the Beltran Leyvas, and Bayardo was
suspected of providing tips on planned police movements.

Bayardo also passed information to American drug agents pursuing
members of the Beltran Leyva group, according to reports in the Mexican media.

Bayardo was never formally charged after his detention, and he became
a key witness for prosecutors seeking evidence against traffickers
and their allies inside Mexican federal law enforcement.

Bayardo's testimony has led to the arrests of at least four senior
federal police officials, including the then-chief, Victor Gerardo
Garay, according to Mexican news reports.

The daily Reforma newspaper said Bayardo moved among a trio of
government-owned safe houses, but recently had been preparing to
resume normal life, perhaps by teaching about police issues.

Bayardo allegedly amassed millions of dollars in real estate, jewels,
artwork and other property, and was long rumored to have ties to drug
traffickers as he ascended to a ranking post in the federal police.