U.S., MEXICO PLAN DRUG WAR COOPERATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706710011-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: March 23, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
7r
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706710011-2
ARTICLE AFFEAE
ON PAGE 4- /Lr
WASHINGTON POST
23 March 1985
U.S., MPlan
War Cooperation
Drug
Meeting of Top Officials Set for Summer
By Mary Thornton
Washington Post staff writer
j. The attorneys general of the
United States and Mexico agreed
yesterday to hold a,"summit" of the'
two nations' top law-enforcement
officials this summer and to consid-'
er cooperative prosecutions of drug
traffickers in the future;-
U.S. officials have criticized Mex-
ico's performance in the investiga-
tion of the Feb. 7 kidnaping and
subsequent murder of U.S. drug
agent Enrique Camarena Salazar
and Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mex=
ican who flew occasional missions,
for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration.
U.S. Attorney General Edwin
Meese III and his Mexican counter-
part, Sergio Garcia Ramirez, met
for five hours yesterday and said in
a statement that they had agreed to
share information "about corruption?
linked to drug trafficking ... and to'-
.
cooperate fully in strengthening the
eradication programs in Mexico."
In addition to the summit, they
agreed to meet again in six months
to review progress..
Acting DEA Administrator John
C. Lawn, who participated in the
discussions, said it was agreed "that
DEA would work in teams with rep-
resentatives from the Mexican Fed-
eral Judicial Police targeting major
traffickers in Mexico. We would
share intelligence and work jointly
on those investigations until the
traffickers are brought to Justice."
Deputy Attorney General D.
Lowell Jensen, who also took part in
the talks, said the United States
alrgady has authority to file charges
in U.S. courts against Mexican traf-
fickers who violate U.S. law.
He added that an existing extra-
dition treaty permits Mexico to
send accused traffickers to the
United States for trial.
,,,Jensen said yesterday that there..
was no discussion of cutting off for-
eign assistance to Mexico, as has
been suggested in Congress, ?but,
that "we were firm ... in what we':
think needs to be done."
Jensen said, for example, that'
there were discussions of requiring,
U.S. observers present .on drug-.
eradication flights over poppy or_
marijuana fields.
-When the United States first pro-
vided eradication funds to Mexico,
such observers were required, and,
the program was considered suc
cessful.
But the observers were phased'
out, and federal law enforcement'
officials say there have been cases'
in which DEA agents were directed'
toward the wrong fields and in,
which water was sprayed rather,
than herbicides. .
The State Department,.in an annual report, found that the amounts:
of heroin and marijuana coming into.
. the United States from Mexico last,
year increased.
Mexican authorities ? have said
they believe that several major:
drug traffickers, including Rafael'
Caro Quintero, Angel Felix Gal-'
lardo, Ernesto Fonseca and Juan'
Ramon Mata Ballasteros, were be
hind the Camarena and Zavala mur-
ders.
The bodies of the two men were
found March 6 on a farm near'
Guadalajara. Both had been tor-
tured.
Mexican authorities last week
charged several members of the,
Jalisco State Judicial Police with
crimes related to the Camarena
case.
A number of other persons, re-
portedly including members of the
Mexican Federal Judicial Police
the Mexican equivalent of the
FBI-are being held for question-
ing in the case.
Lawn said DEA agents stationed
in Mexico worked with Mexican
authorities until the bodies were
found.
After that, he said, the investi-
gation was taken over by the, Mex-
ican attorney general, and cooper-
ation between the DEA and Mex-
ican authorities ceased.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706710011-2