Mexicans Were Paid for Delivering Camarena Case Figure, U.S. Admits

A federal prosecutor confirmed Friday that U.S. officials made payments to six Mexicans for their role in the apprehension of Rene Martin Verdugo, the accused drug smuggler suspected by U.S. authorities of having information about the kidnap-slaying of drug agent Enrique S. Camarena.

The acknowledgement by Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Lasater came as a federal district judge continued to weigh a defense request that the Mexicans, who have been granted protection in the United States, be ordered to answer questions about their role in Verdugo’s alleged abduction in late January from San Felipe in Baja California.

“Elements of the Mexican government or officials of Mexico did, at the request of the U.S. government, apprehend this individual,” Lasater said during a hearing before U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving. “Some payment at one point or another was made to these individuals.”

Four Were Policemen

In an interview after the hearing, Lasater said the payments were made to the six Mexicans now in the United States, four of whom had left the Baja California State Judicial Police around the time of the alleged abduction.

In court, Lasater declined to answer Irving’s question about the amount paid to the Mexicans, but said there was no basis for defense claims that they were paid a total of $100,000 to abduct Verdugo.

Federal investigators contend that Verdugo was present during the torture of Camarena, the 37-year-old Drug Enforcement Administration agent kidnaped in Guadalajara in February, 1985, and found dead in a field near there a month later. Verdugo, a Mexicali land developer charged with smuggling a ton of marijuana from Mexico to the United States, has denied the allegation.

Over Lasater’s objections, Irving on Friday ordered prosecutors to gather and submit for his private review all government documents generated in connection with Verdugo’s arrest. The judge said he wants to see the papers before deciding whether to interview the six Mexicans.

Testimony Crucial

Defense attorneys say that testimony by the Mexicans is crucial in establishing whether the U.S. government’s conduct in the case was outrageous enough to justify the dismissal of the charges against Verdugo. But prosecutors insist that court precedent would permit throwing out the charges and freeing Verdugo only if he had been severely tortured--a claim he has not made.

Irving said there might be other aspects of the government’s conduct that justified a closer look at Verdugo’s allegations.

“This court is compelled to make at least some preliminary investigation as to the charges against the U.S. government in this case,” he said.