MEXICO DENIES NASSAR TIES TO CIA, CAR THEFTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404520027-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: April 3, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP9O-00552ROO0404520027-9
SAN DIEGO UNION (CA)
3 April 1982
Mexico Denies :\
Nassar Ties I o .;
CIA, Car Thefts
Mexico's former top security chief
was neither involved in a swlen-car
ring not did he work for the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Mexican at-
torney general's office has conclud-
ed.
In Washington, the U.S. attorney
general is considering- whether to
prosecute Miguel Nassar Haro, who
headed the Federal Security Direc-
torate (DFS), for his part in a ring
that stole more than $8 million worth
of cars from San Diego and Orange
County dealers. ,
The Mexican attorney general's .
office also affirmed-that it could note
substantiate reports that Nassar was.
the CIA's prime source of informa-.,
tion in Latin America.
William 11. Kennedy, U. S. attorney
in San Diego, has said Nassar's CIA
ties have blocked prosecution of the
Mexican official. The CIA has said it
no longer has an interest in Nassar
since he left his job last January.
He was replaced by Jose Antonio
Zorrillo, former lieutenant governor
of the state of Hidalgo and a man
I with no apparent experience in law
enforcement.
..Despite their government's find-`
'ngs about Nassar, political parties
from both the Mexican left and right.;
'called for a thorough investigation
into .his part in both the auto theft
operation and the CIA.
Gumersindo Magada, head of the
right-wing Mexican Democratic-!
Party, said if the investigation found'
that Nassar worked with the CIA, he,
should be tried "for treason to cur.!
country." J}}}
Valentin Campa, a federal legisla..
tor and a member of the United So-
cialist Party of Mexico, noted that
Nassar headed the DFS's White Bri-
gade, an anti-terrorist group widely
accused of unlawful behav1or.
By JON STANDEE F.R
Staff Wntel, Tho Son 0*0+ 4;
. "The ex-chief of the White Brigade
personally tortured political prison-
ers, and he bragged of patriotism
when he attacked socialists or sim-
ply men with progressive ideas," said.
Campa, a longtime labor leader who.
was jailed for several years for lead-
ing strikes. "And now look where he-
is: at the orders of the CIA."
Because the DFS has police pow
ers that overlap the jurisdictions of
other law-enforcement agencies, it is-
both feared and hated in many quay;
ters. The organization's e. , a'urricular activi-
ties sometimes have resulted in confrontations
with other authorities. = =.~
In late 1979, DFS agent Jorge del Rio was
arrested in Tijuana by Baja California state
poLe for his involvement in a Tijuana garage
spec?alizing in dismantling stolen four-wheeled
The agent was taken to state police head
guar ers and allowed to make one telephone
call. Within minutes machine-gun-armed DFS
agents surrounded the building and obtained the
release of their colleague..
Baja California Gov. Roberto de la Madrid
was reportedly so incensed that he flew to Mex-
ico City and demanded the transfer of the local.
DFS chief, Jaime AlcalS, a close Nassar lieu-
tenant.
.
Since that incident, other DFS agents were.
arrested for receiving stolen cars, and state po-
lice vowed that further confrontations would
end in bloodshed.
Another confrontation involving Alcala's men
occurred on Jan. 8, 1981, during the investiga-
tion of the car theft ring headed by Gilberto
Peraza-Mayen, which resulted in 28 indictments
last summer. I
According to an FBI affidavit, Joe Ortiz of
the California Highway Patrol, working with
Baja California state police, located several
stolen cars at Peraza's residence in Tijuana.
Peraza was taken into custody and surveillance
was set op.
While police awaited the arrival of several
other stolen cars, the affidavit says, "The state
police were surprised by Aurelio Rojas, an as-
sistant to DFS officers, and Jesus Dui 6n.
"These individuals, utilizing a shotgun and a' .1
Swedish 9mm,nnachine gun, forcibly secured
Peraza's release'from the surveillance agents.".
The affidavit also days that -"Jaime Alcal5,
(former) head of the DFS in Tijuana, hid Peraza
-in the truni of his car inside the DFS compound
In Tijuana' until Peraza was flown to Mexico
City. Peraza stayed with DFS agents until his
return to the Unite o States with six DFS agents.
Three years ago, a joint U.S -Mexico crack-
down on smugglers of aliens was announced in .
Tijuana. A Mexican task force of DFS agents,..
under the personal command of Nassar Haro
and working closely with the U.S. Border Pa.
trol, arrested 136 suspected smugglers in Tijua-
na in one weekend alone.
It was to be the start of a new era of coopera-
tion; in fact, the anti-smuggling drive was a
fiasco:
- Almost none of those arrested were major
smugglers.
= Virtually all of the 136 arrested were re-
leased without charges; by February of 1980
only seven were still in custody.
- Many of the suspects simply bribed their
way to freedom. One government sout;ce told
The San Diego Unionthat smugglers paid DFS
agents up to $30,000 to obtain theil- release.
- Those suspects who were released became
ready-made la rgets of DFS extortion.
- Even innocent businessmen were arrested,
beaten and blackmailed. One taco vendor ar-
rested and tortured by the.DFS was beaten so
severely that a DFS agent brought him to Uni-
versity Hospital. Four operations later, the vic-
tim was released. His $154,000 bill was left un-
paid.
The DFS was also believed responsible fe
the kidnapping in April of 1980 of Arizona bus;
nessman John Freeman, who' was abducte'
from his, resort home in Puerto Pef asco 'an
held several days.' He was later ' release
unharmed.
During the investigation of Peraza's car-thef
ring last year, the FBI informant who trap:
ported stolen cars from California to the interi
or of Mexico reported that DFS agents shot ant
killed a farmer outside the northern hlexicai
city 'of Monterrey. The. farmer's truck wa
.blocking the road when the caravan of stolet
cars came upon him.
The informant reported other incidents o
brutality by the DFS agents - involved ' in tht
ring, including the beating of a man' who at
tempted to get his car filled with gasoline be
fore those driven by DFS agents were serviced
The DFS apparently reacts harshly to en
croachment by others. In January of.1980, theet
men were arrested in Ciudad JuSrez am.
charged with stealing American cars.
Two of the suspects were identified as mem.
hers of the Mexico City police force. The arrest
ing officers: DFS agents.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP9O-00552ROO0404520027-9