Informer tells of corrupt Mexico

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An informant who worked for U.S. authorities for more than four years says government, police and military authorities in Mexico have been corrupted by drug smugglers, often carrying out kidnappings and killings on the orders of drug cartel bosses.

The accusations are outlined in sworn testimony before a U.S. immigration judge by Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro, a former Mexican police officer who was paid $224,000 for information U.S. anti-drug agents used to convict dozens of high-ranking Mexican drug traffickers.

Ramirez told U.S. Immigration Judge Joseph R. Dierkes in Minnesota that cartel bosses made "arrangements" with "high-level government people," including Mexican military, politicians and police officials, to protect the drug gangs and their smuggling operations.

He said he witnessed two Mexican police officers kill one drug-cartel rival at the behest of Heriberto Santillan-Tabares, a top lieutenant in the Vicente Carrillo-Fuentes drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez, and helped supervise the burying of others whom Mexican police officials tortured and killed.

The killings, he said, took place between August 2003 and January 2004 at 3633 Calle Parsioneros in Ciudad Juarez, known as the "House of Death." Twelve bodies have since been unearthed in the back yard of the two-story residence.

"Well, the police, well, they would kill them there and then they would leave and then I would go to check to make sure the people would bury them," Ramirez said, adding he tape-recorded one of the torture-and-killing sessions and turned the tape over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for whom he worked as an informant.

Earlier this month, Judge Dierkes blocked Ramirez's forced deportation, saying he faced being killed by drug cartel members or complicit Mexican government officials.

The ruling, subject to review by the Board of Immigration Appeals, came at an Oct. 11 hearing. Ramirez's testimony about Mexican authorities was part of an effort by his attorney, Jodi Goodwin, to overturn the deportation order.

"In a way, this is a big win," Mrs. Goodwin said. "In another way, this is back where we started two years ago. It's kind of been a cat-and-mouse game. The government reserved their right to an appeal and they have 30 days to do so, while we wait once again."

Mrs. Goodwin said the case relied on whether Ramirez "could be reasonably located to another part of Mexico" and whether "the Mexican government would acquiesce in the torture of my client by the cartel." She said the judge ruled Mexico was "a death sentence for my client."

ICE moved Ramirez and his family out of Mexico for their protection in 2005 after the conviction of Santillan-Tabares. Later, the Department of Homeland Security sought to deport him to Mexico as an illegal alien. His wife and two children were moved to New Mexico, where the government still pays for their housing, food and other necessary costs.

This week, President Bush included $500 million for drug-enforcement efforts in Mexico as part of a $46 billion supplemental budget request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza called the $500 million "the single most aggressive undertaking ever to combat Mexican drug cartels and the associated violence they pose to citizens in both the U.S. and Mexico."

U.S. lawmakers said it will not be voted on this year.