Jailbreak Aftershocks : Escape of Key Figure in Drug Case Adds Woes to Tijuana’s Attempts to Clean Up Its Image

The squat brick structure that houses the municipal jail here does not seem like the kind of place good times are made of. The armed guards, barred windows and the building’s bunker-like appearance contribute to a general sense of menace, and visitors say the inside is predictably damp, dirty and inhospitable.

But it was inside this very building--in a top-floor suite that one jailer called “El Penthouse”--where an infamous, purported drug trafficker and murderer allegedly spent more than six months in relative luxury. He enjoyed several well-appointed private rooms, a personal computer and private telephone, he regularly received visitors and hosted boisterous parties, and he was allowed weekend visits with his family in Tijuana, according to documents on file in federal court here.

The good times ceased abruptly on Oct. 25 when Jose Contreras Subias was escorted out of jail by police officers and jailers--and allowed to escape, presumably to the United States and then to South America or elsewhere, according to court documents and officials.

The ensuing scandal has reverberated on both sides of the border, spiced by revelations of Contreras’ posh prison life style--one sustained, officials say, with alleged payments of thousands of dollars in bribes to police and jail officials.

In the United States, federal drug officials were furious. U.S. and Mexican authorities described Contreras as the right-hand man of Rafael Caro Quintero, the purported drug kingpin who allegedly headed a multimillion-dollar drug empire. Caro Quintero is being held in connection with the slayings of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena Salazar and a Mexican pilot.

“We’re disappointed, disturbed. The man (Contreras) is a key figure in the Caro Quintero organization,” said Ronald D’Ulisse, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego. “We know he (Contreras) had at least after-the-fact knowledge of the murder of our agent, and he may have had before-the-fact knowledge.”

Here in Tijuana, the escape of Contreras and subsequent revelations about his life style have alternately titillated and outraged a populace already inured to tales of public corruption. The case is seen as the latest setback to the attempts to reform Tijuana’s lingering image as a wide-open border town--a place of steamy cantinas and flashing neon where bribery was a way of life and any kind of vice could be purchased for a price.

“Of course these kinds of reports hurt us, any adverse publicity hurts,” said Gilberto Gonzalez Esparza, general manager of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism of Tijuana. “It’s just not good for tourism, and the major part of our economy is based on tourism.”

Red-faced officials are hard-pressed to explain how such blatant favoritism and open bribery could apparently flourish in the midst of a national campaign of “moral renovation” and a nationwide resolve to stem drug trafficking. Tabloid newspapers have speculated about the incident being a possible prelude to a dramatic effort to spring Caro Quintero from his cell in Mexico City.

“The case was so dramatic, the corruption was so pervasive, that even people here were shocked,” said J. Jesus Blancornelas, editor and publisher of the Tijuana weekly Zeta who has written extensively about the drug “Mafia” in Mexico.

“The escape of Contreras,” Blancornelas wrote recently, “has been for the government of Baja California what the earthquake was for Mexico City.”

Government officials in this city of more than 1 million residents have been trying their best to leave the tremors behind them, but the aftershocks continue to rumble. Charged with taking bribes and assisting in Contreras’ escape are the former warden of the city jail and three city police officers. All four are now in jail. Also arrested were three former jailers, who are free on bail.

Police chief Rafael Rubio Alarcon, a well-known 44-year-old businessman who took office only last June with a mandate to clean up the department, took a leave of absence soon after the incident became known. He might not be coming back. Mayor Rene Trevino Arredondo, who has tried hard to bolster the city’s image, was forced to call a press conference at which he denied allegations that drug money had worked its way to other city officials and into the municipal treasury.

Mexican investigators have said there is no evidence to implicate other local officials in the case. Nonetheless, the scandal has again marred the image of a city eager to be viewed as a modern, clean, safe haven for American tourists--who represent the cornerstone of Tijuana’s economy. The escape came a year after the U.S. Navy imposed a nighttime curfew on sailors visiting Tijuana, following allegations that the police force had extorted bribes from civilian and military personnel.

“There’s no question that the image of Tijuana has suffered and will continue to suffer from situations such as the jailbreak,” said Lee Grissom, president of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, which views the presence of Tijuana as a major drawing card for tourists coming to San Diego. “It’s not the kind of thing that would attract investors or make visitors want to go there.”

While acknowledging some damage to the city’s shaky image, state and local officials have tried to downplay any long-range impact that the alleged corruption uncovered by the Contreras case may have on tourism and foreign investment. “This escapee from the Mafia, his escape hasn’t affected us a bit,” said Alfredo Ramirez Lewall, an official with the city’s Tourism and Convention Committee. “It can contribute to a bad image, but after all, these things happen all over the world.”

Municipal officials are also quick to defend the integrity of the 1,200-member police force despite the latest allegations. In the last four months, said former chief Rubio, 80 to 90 officers were dismissed because of suspected corruption, officers’ pay was raised, training was increased, and citizens were encouraged to report any alleged shakedowns.

“I feel very good about this department,” said acting Police Chief Fernando Lopez Castellanos, sitting in his downtown office in the central police station that adjoins the city jail where Contreras was held. “You can’t judge the whole department by a few bad elements.”

But independent observers say the scope of the alleged corruption surfacing in the Contreras case illustrates a systematic problem that is not easily dismissed--and extends well beyond the municipal police force. Indeed, the integrity of the federal investigators now handling the Contreras case has already been questioned: The former jail warden, Gaston Romo Barragan, has recanted a signed confession he submitted to federal authorities, alleging in tearful testimony before a judge here that he was brought to Mexico City, tortured, and forced to sign the statement. Some speculate that federal authorities may be trying to lay the blame at the door of municipal officials--a claim federal officials have dismissed.

“The corruption must go right to the top,” said Blancornelas, the Tijuana journalist. “How can we expect an honest investigation?”

All the public house cleaning does not sit well with Tijuana officials. City fathers point proudly to the city’s American-style shopping malls, its futuristic cultural center and new facilities such as the Fiesta Americana Hotel and office complex--two 27-story glass towers not far from downtown that opened earlier this year. The city and state spend considerable sums--no one will say exactly how much--purchasing advertising, wooing travel agents and otherwise attempting to attract Americans south of the border. Officials are extremely sensitive about the image question.

“We are constantly forced to fight this negative image of Tijuana,” said Mayor Trevino. “It is all in the past, but still we must fight against it. . . . Occasionally there are lamentable events such as this escape, which can happen in any country. But we try our best to provide a tranquil, safe atmosphere both for our citizens and for visitors.”

Arline Villagran, a spokeswoman for the state office of tourism in Tijuana, added: “This false image of Tijuana only exists for people who haven’t lived here and don’t know the city. . . . It makes me angry when something comes up and they blow it out of proportion.”

Those who do know the city boast that Tijuana is the most-visited city in the world. They estimate that each of the more than 35 million people crossing from San Diego into Tijuana each year spends at least $20--for a total investment of some $700 million. And when Tijuana officials talk about the city’s expanding industrial base, they are inevitably referring to the maquiladoras-- mostly U.S. firms that have established factories along the border to take advantage of special laws in both nations that enable them to use cheap Mexican labor.

“Tijuana,” said Mayor Trevino, “is progressing forward.”

Contreras, 36, a tall, curly-haired man with well-etched facial features, was transported to the city jail here shortly after his arrest last April in Costa Rica. He was to face charges of murder and drug possession in connection with the slaying of a Mexican federal police officer during a shoot-out Nov. 1, 1984, outside of Tijuana.

His “cell,” court documents show, was actually a multiroom suite including a reception area, meeting room, computer office and bedroom. The cell was in the upper part of the jail, accessible from inside by a separate staircase, court papers show.

In other ways, too, he was no ordinary prisoner. Some of the hundreds of pages of court documents on file tell of weekend visits to his family’s home in Tijuana, of alleged payments of thousands of dollars to jail and police officials, of visitors coming and going at all hours, and of many other examples of special treatment.

In one sworn statement, Raul Zapari Guevara, one of the accused jailers, stated that Contreras “frequently organized private parties in his cell which were attended by party girls, their escorts and different persons.” The guard said that the party goers would use various kinds of liquor and drugs, including cocaine, “and at the end of these meetings the empty bottles were wrapped in paper bags and thrown in garbage cans.”

On Oct. 25, police escorted Contreras out of prison for a court appearance--one of many such instances. After appearing in court that morning, he was never returned to jail. Mayor Trevino and former police chief Rubio said they did not learn of his disappearance until four days later.

U.S. officials say they believe Contreras crossed the border into San Diego, spent one or two nights there accompanied by heavily armed pistoleros, and then left the area.

“We know he had some very good connections and contacts in South America, particularly Colombia,” said D’Ulisse, the DEA spokesman. “As such a close lieutenant of Caro Quintero, he has access to considerable resources in terms of money and arms.”

In Tijuana, meanwhile, the case has moved off the front pages, and the city jail seems outwardly to be functioning smoothly with a new warden--and without its most celebrated prisoner. Outside the jail on a recent morning, Luz Maria Reyes, a 22-year-old mother of three, was waiting for word on her husband, Roberto, a 23-year-old worker in a tortilla factory who had been arrested on charges of being disorderly.

“My husband tells me that inside it’s dirty and cold,” said Reyes, holding her one-year-old daughter, Leticia, and complaining about the lack of receptiveness by jail officials behind the barred windows.

“This famous criminal, just because he has money and fame, he receives all this special treatment. And a simple worker like my husband must stay in such conditions.”