Businessman Convicted in Camarena Case

Mexican businessman Ruben Zuno Arce was found guilty Monday of conspiring to kidnap and murder an American drug agent in 1985, ending a chapter in the intense investigation of the crime.

Zuno, brother-in-law of former Mexican President Luis Echeverria Alvarez, closed his eyes and shook his head slowly as the jury verdicts were read. “Big injustice,” he said in Spanish as he was led from the courtroom by U.S. marshals.

Zuno, 62, faces a possible life sentence for his involvement in the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena, a crime that stunned U.S. authorities and badly strained relations with Mexico. This trial exacerbated that tension, as two government witnesses testified that in addition to Zuno, several high-ranking Mexican politicians attended meetings with drug traffickers at which the Camarena abduction was discussed.

Zuno had gone to trial with a co-defendant, Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain, a Guadalajara gynecologist accused of participating in the torture of Camarena.

But last week, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie ruled that there was not enough evidence to send Alvarez Machain’s case to the jury, and acquitted him. The doctor, who had been abducted from Mexico and brought to the United States at the behest of the DEA in 1990, is back in Mexico.

Mexican officials, including President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, praised Rafeedie’s ruling. They declined comment Monday, however, as did officials at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities who were disappointed by Alvarez Machain’s acquittal praised the jury for its guilty verdicts against Zuno.

“We are thankful that the jury was allowed to evaluate the evidence against defendant Zuno Arce,” U.S. Atty. Terree A. Bowers said. “It is unfortunate that the jury was deprived of that opportunity with regard to Dr. Alvarez Machain.”

In Washington, DEA Administrator Robert C. Bonner, a former federal judge and U.S. attorney, echoed those sentiments.

“Certainly, we’re disappointed that (Rafeedie) did not let it go to the jury,” Bonner said of the case against the physician. But, he added, “I’m delighted with the verdict in this case.”

With the verdict, Zuno becomes the seventh person convicted in U.S. courts in connection with the Camarena killing. Every defendant whose case has gone to a jury has been found guilty, a record of convictions that Bonner said “demonstrates that this has been a successful investigation.”

Other suspects have been convicted in Mexican courts and are imprisoned in Mexico.

Zuno was convicted of conspiracy to commit violent crimes in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to kidnap a federal agent and kidnaping a federal agent.

The primary evidence against him was the testimony of two former Mexican police officers who had gone to work for one of Guadalajara’s drug kingpins. Both witnesses said Zuno participated in meetings with drug traffickers and high-ranking Mexican officials during late 1984 and early 1985.

One witness, Rene Lopez Romero, also said that Zuno had been at the house where Camarena was being tortured.

Zuno was convicted in 1990, but that verdict was tossed out by Rafeedie. He ruled that an improper statement by a prosecutor had tainted the jury.

This conviction also is likely to be challenged, as lawyers for Zuno indicated that they expect to file a motion for a new trial by Jan. 22. Although they would not comment as they left court, Zuno’s lawyers have indicated that the motion will center on a government document that was provided to them only after they had rested their case.

That document detailed a Sept. 9, 1992, interview between a Phoenix FBI agent and a Mexican informant. The informant gave an account of the Camarena abduction that was far different than the one presented by prosecutors in their case against Zuno and Alvarez Machain.

Some information given by the informant, a former Mexican police officer, is contradicted by physical evidence, and the informant contradicted himself during two separate interviews. In addition, the informant acknowledged that he acquired some information by torturing suspects.

All of those facts caused U.S. authorities to doubt the information, but Zuno’s lawyers protested that they should have been provided a copy of the report so that they could evaluate it. Edward Medvene, Zuno’s lead trial attorney, asked Rafeedie to order a mistrial last week, but the judge denied that request and suggested that Medvene consider a post-trial motion.

Prosecutors are obligated to turn over to defense lawyers any information that might help a defendant’s case. In this case, however, prosecutors said they did not obtain the document until Dec. 10. They turned it over to the defense on the next court day, Dec. 14.

“Our prosecutors acted with the utmost professionalism and integrity,” Bowers said. “Any insinuation to the contrary is absolutely wrong.”

The case against Zuno and Alvarez Machain took three weeks, and jurors deliberated for 2 1/2 days before reaching the guilty verdicts against Zuno. As they left the courthouse, a few jurors spoke with reporters and said they were confident in their decision.

“The evidence was there,” one said.

Another, Dale Goddard, said: “I don’t feel good about putting a man in jail, but I do feel we reached the right verdict.”

Although the verdicts conclude the case against the only remaining defendant charged in the Camarena murder, Bonner said the investigation is continuing. Evidence during this trial implicated a host of well-known Mexican officials, including a former defense minister, Gen. Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, former Interior Minister Manuel Bartlett Diaz and former Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alvarez del Castillo.

Bonner would not comment on the possibility of those officials or others facing charges in the United States, but he added: “If there are further indictments, I would fully expect that we would be cooperating with the government of Mexico.”