Mexico Reopens Probe of Camarena’s Killing

The Mexican government is reopening its investigation into the 1985 murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, a move apparently designed to confront new allegations that might emerge from the trial of four suspects in the killing, which began in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Mexican attorney general’s office announced late Monday the opening of a special affairs office that will “review in its totality” the investigation into the torture and murder of Enrique Camarena in Guadalajara. A special prosecutor is to be named today.

Mexican officials privately have expressed concern that the Camarena trial will be sensationalist and possibly implicate current or former government officials in drug trafficking. They fear that the U.S. government will use the trial to pressure Mexico to hand over other suspects.

In a hint of what lies ahead, the prosecution released a memo earlier this month alleging that Mexico City Police Chief Javier Garcia Paniagua, once head of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, had attended an October, 1984, meeting to plan Camarena’s murder.

Mexican officials were angered by the public allegations, noting that Garcia Paniagua has never been indicted in the case. Mexico’s drug czar, Javier Coello Trejo, said last week that the government has had no reason to suspect Garcia Paniagua or to investigate him.

“He is a very respected politician in Mexico who has demonstrated his honesty,” Coello said.

He noted that several prosecution witnesses in the Camarena case are “delinquents. . . . No authority can value the testimony of a delinquent.”

U.S. officials expressed skepticism about the attorney general’s decision to reopen the Mexican investigation.

“A lot of it could be damage control,” said one U.S. source who asked not to be identified by name. He noted that Mexico does not have strong conspiracy laws that would be needed to prosecute officials suspected of complicity in the killing and drug trafficking.

Atty. Gen. Enrique Alvarez del Castillo previously has maintained that all those involved in the Camarena killing have been brought to justice. About two dozen people have been convicted in Mexico of involvement in Camarena’s killing.

The attorney general’s press release said the government will “proceed according to Mexican law” on the case, implying that any future charges would be handled in Mexico.