Border Agent Is Cleared in Carlsbad Incident : Investigation: U.S. Inspector General finds he did not act improperly in leaving migrant, who allegedly had been kidnaped, in handuffs behind Country Store.

The U.S. Inspector General’s office in San Diego has cleared a U.S. Border Patrol agent of any wrongdoing for failing to take action during the alleged kidnaping of a migrant laborer outside a rural Carlsbad market early this month, authorities said Friday.

The agent, who was not named, was on routine patrol Jan. 3 when he spotted Candido Salas, 26, handcuffed behind the Country Store on El Camino Real, authorities said.

When he asked Salas about the handcuffs, he was told by a man believed to be one of the kidnapers that “it’s been taken care of” and left the scene without further questions, police said.

The Inspector General’s inquiry found that those actions were within the realm of the agent’s responsibilities, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said.

“The office of the Inspector General has looked into the matter and found no indication of any wrongdoing by our agent,” spokesman Ted Swofford said.

The inquiry by the Inspector General, an investigative arm of the Justice Department, precludes further in-house investigation, Swofford said.

The investigation was conducted last week after The Times reported the incident, he said.

The FBI is still investigating the case surrounding two Carlsbad brothers who are accused of kidnaping Salas and beating him repeatedly while keeping him handcuffed for several hours. Country Store owner Rickey Ryberg and his brother, Randy, who works there as a baker, also are accused of binding the migrant worker’s arms and legs with duct tape. Salas was released at the store with a paper bag on his head. On the bag was a Spanish phrase warning him and other workers not to return to the store, where they often solicited day labor.

The brothers face kidnaping charges and are scheduled for arraignment Feb. 15 in Vista Superior Court.

The FBI announced last week that it has launched an investigation of possible civil rights violations by the Rybergs. And Mexico President Carlos Salinas de Gortari expressed interest in the case during a call this week to the Mexican consulate in San Diego.

On Sunday, migrant advocates plan to demonstrate at the market on El Camino Real in Carlsbad.

Carlsbad Police Lt. Don Lewis said Friday that one of his investigators was contacted last week by the Inspector General’s office concerning the border agent’s actions.

According to police, the agent was interrupted by a voice from behind a screen door as he questioned Salas.

“The person said, ‘it’s all been taken care of,’ ” Lewis said. “The border agent asked if the man had been shoplifting, and the voice said, ‘Yeah, it’s all been taken care of.’

“I guess he assumed that the Carlsbad police were on their way, but I can’t say.” Lewis said the agent then drove off without asking that Salas’ handcuffs be removed.

Advocates for Salas said Friday that the Inspector General’s case “seemed a little too open-and-shut.”