U.S. Probing Death of DEA Aide in Mexico
The United States is investigating the death of a secretary at the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Guadalajara, Mexico, who died in a weekend car crash, officials said today.
The death of Susan Hoefler, 32, an American secretary in the same office where DEA agent Victor Cortez worked before being abducted and tortured last week by Jalisco state police, occurred Saturday night, a DEA spokesman said.
U.S. authorities, already investigating the Cortez incident, will examine whether foul play was involved in Hoefler’s death, a Justice Department official said.
‘No Reason to Suspect’
But a DEA spokesman said the investigators at this point have “no reason to suspect the car crash was anything more than an accident.”
Hoefler handled contracts for the office for such things as purchases and outside work done for the agency, the spokesman said.
She was en route to the airport to pick up another DEA secretary returning from vacation when she apparently lost control of her car, ran into a utility pole and was killed instantly.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
