DRUG CZAR WHO HELPED U.S. IS SLAIN

Mexican drug fighter worked both sides of law before he fled to McAllen,
agent says

Compiled from staff and wire reports

McALLEN -- At the height of his power, former Mexican drug czar Guillermo
Gonzalez Calderoni lived in two worlds. He aided and persecuted that
nation's most notorious drug kingpins while befriending U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration and FBI agents and making enemies of high-ranking
Mexican officials.

Calderoni was killed Wednesday morning with a single gunshot to the head
outside his lawyer's office in a barren area of this Rio Grande Valley city.
Calderoni, who was sitting in his $100,000 Mercedes-Benz, had just finished
a meeting about the purchase of a ranch, a law firm employee told The
(McAllen) Monitor.

In 1992, the former head of Mexico's anti-drug agency fled the country,
facing allegations of abuse of power and fearing that he would be killed.
After successfully fighting an extradition attempt by the Mexican
government, Calderoni settled into the comfortable life of a businessman in
McAllen.

Police said they have few strong leads in the investigation.

"There's a lot of history behind this man apparently, and it could be a
number of things," McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said.

Phil Jordan, a former DEA agent and director of the El Paso intelligence
center, met Calderoni in the 1970s when both were hunting for Pedro Avilez
Perez, one of the first recognized drug kingpins.

Back then, Calderoni had a reputation for being clearly on the law
enforcement side, Jordan said. Calderoni and his men were dubbed
"untouchables."

But pressure by the established drug organizations eventually had Calderoni
working both sides of the law, Jordan said.

"If you want to stay in law enforcement over there, you have to play by the
corruption rules," he said. "If you stay in law enforcement and don't play
by the established rules, then you're going to get killed."

Jordan said even as Calderoni was helping the rivals of the drug dealers he
busted, he was earning the respect of DEA agents by helping them with the
investigation into the torture and slaying of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.

"Calderoni, with all his faults, had a sense of camaraderie with drug
agents," Jordan said. "He was definitely an agent's agent."

Calderoni is credited with killing Pablo Acosta, another drug kingpin,
reportedly after receiving $1 million from Acosta's partner, Amado Carillo
Fuentes. Calderoni also captured drug lord Miguel Felix Gallardo in 1989.

"I made him turn over," Calderoni said of the Gallardo arrest in a PBS
interview. "I put the AK-47 in his mouth and made him stand up slowly. When
I took the gun away, he offered me -- I can't remember whether it was $5 or
$6 million -- in exchange for his release."

By 1994, Calderoni was living in his native South Texas. But the Mexican
government wanted him back, accusing him of torturing drug suspects during
an investigation into a drug smuggling ring.

Calderoni's officers were said to have yanked out the teeth of one suspect
with pliers and put a plastic bag over the head of another.

Calderoni denied the accusations.

During an extradition hearing, a U.S. federal magistrate ruled the
statements made by witnesses had been fabricated and denied Mexico's
request.

After his shooting, law officers in the Valley said Calderoni had recently
offered to return to Mexico to provide information about corrupt officials.

The Houston Chronicle quoted an unnamed law officer as saying that Calderoni
has "been on television a couple of times, saying that if the Mexican
government were to call him back, he would give information; name names."

Jordan told The Monitor that he last spoke to Calderoni about two months
ago. The two discussed writing a book.

After living a life like something out of the movies, Calderoni said he felt
safe in the Valley.

"He knew about the threats, that people were looking for him," Jordan said.

"He was confident that no one would try to do it here. I think he felt safe
in the U.S.," Jordan said. "I told him he was crazy to stay on the border."