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THE FUSION OF INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS BY THE UNITED SATES IN MEXICO IN REVIEW
By Joel Vargas, Director of Operations Assistant Director of Law Enforcement Operations InterPort Police
Global Risk Management Consultants Global Security Consultants 10 Martingale Rd Schaumburg, IL 60173 Office: 312-650-9363
Intelligence Division www.contingentsecurity.com September 15, 2012 Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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I. INTRODUCTION In this paper the “War on Drugs or Drug War” will be reviewed and analyzed from the context of United States’ law enforcement and intelligence activities assisting Mexican authorities. The war on drugs can be viewed as a threat to National Security to the United States (US) or can be viewed as a problem south of the border. As of now, the US policy has been to contain the drug war south of the border. The context of US intervention and activities inside Mexican and the effectiveness of the US policy of containment are under scrutiny. Some of the recent incidents have resulted in death to US officers, consulate employees and CIA and DEA assets inside Mexico. These recent incidents have revealed some serious problems with the US involvement and its legal grounds by Mexican laws. The suspicious aircraft crashes of two heads of the Department of Interior in Mexico, Juan Camilo Mourino and Francisco Blake Mora are grounds to reflect that drug trafficking organizations may be able to engage suicide missions to get kill someone. In a recent speech, Felipe Calderon, the current president of Mexico, indicated that there was one time a threat to take his presidential plane down, forced him to write a farewell letter to his children. Even when the two crashes have been ruled accidents, Camilo Mourino’s death clearly shows that the Lear Jet he was traveling entered into a dive (as a purposeful act), a very unusual situation on the approach to Mexico City’s International Airport. This paper will focus on activities in Mexico by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies from the United States operating inside Mexico. Mexico has been subject of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) influence and intervention from the late 60’s when the CIA became deeply involved in Mexican politics to fight back communism. While it is important to discuss the implications of having the CIA involved in law enforcement activities outside the US, it is equally important to discuss and Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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analyze the covert, undercover, and overt activities from the law enforcement agencies from the US. In order to set the right framework, the agencies currently involved in law enforcement and intelligence activities inside Mexico are: The Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the United Department of Defense (DOD). This paper will explore the complexity of these operations and the role of these agencies in the drug war in Mexico, but focus on two agencies i.e. the CIA and the DEA. II. LITERATURE REVIEW In the Global Information Network, New York, July 24, 2012, a report titled “Mexico: State official claims CIA ‘manages’ drug trade,” renews the arguments of CIA involvement in the drug trade. In the article Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser to the White House on drug control policy stated that the statements from Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva must be backed up with evidence (2012). Sabet adds that most of these are conspiracy theories have no evidence. Among the conspiracy theories lately were aired in a Chicago Federal Court from Jesus Zambada Niebla, a high ranking Sinaloa Cartel member on trial (2012). It is clear that Sabet failed to read congressional testimony from CIA high ranks admitting to being involved in the drug trade. The New York Times reported on August 28, 2012 an article titled “Americans Shot in Mexico Were C.I.A. Operatives Aiding in Drug War.” The article explains that the two individuals were traveling in an armored vehicle with a Mexican military person. The article also states that the reason for these CIA agents to be in Mexico is to provide support to Mexican authorities in the drug war (2012). The 12 gunmen, plain clothes, off-duty federal police agents attacked the vehicle that had license plates from the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE). According to a source from the New York Times the agents were targeted because of their Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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“affiliation.” There are a few issues that The New York Times fails to mention and will be clarified in the next article reviewed. A popular blog that publishes news regarding the “Narco” known as HistoriasDelNarco.com published a note on Friday, August 31, 2012 titled “Agentes de la CIA venian de Afghanistan y entraron clandestinamente a Mexico, Cual es la Verdad?” The title says that the CIA agents ambushed in Morelos, Mexico came from Afghanistan clandestine and ask what is the truth? This article talks that the agents came in under an assumed name and using false passports and as tourists. The agents did not have diplomatic protection, which leads to author to believe that it was the reason why they left Mexico immediately (2012). The assumed names used are Stan Dove Boss and Phillip P. Quincannon, which were never aired in any US media. Twelve federal police officers were detained for the US/Mexico authorities to conduct the investigation. The article poses the issue that these agents were performing a covert operation. In a Wall Street Journal article titled “U.S. News: Fresh Criticism of Fast and Furious,” Evan Perez goes into detail about how the DEA and the FBI have been working with the ATF during the so called “Fast and Furious” operation. The objective was to allow gun purchases to go into Mexico and track them later during shootings, investigations, or arrests. Perez goes on to say, “Federal officials in Arizona and Washington made multiple missteps that led to the botched Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation, including failing to put together information collected by several agencies, according to a report by congressional Republicans” (2012). It appears that the FBI and DEA in several occasions alerted ATF that the names of the so called arm traffickers were tied to on-going investigations but there was no cooperation (2012). This is an example of a failed undercover operation by the DOJ. Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The framework for this paper will be based on the issues that are not extensively covered during cover and undercover operations by US law enforcement agencies, the CIA and the Intelligence Community (IC), and the US Military Forces. This paper will not cover the extensive work by the CIA during the 1960-1980’s when the Communist Parties and subversive groups became violent in Mexico. Instead, this paper will exclusively focus on activity failures in the name of the war on drugs including overt and covert operations by the US and the recent fusion of missions between the CIA and DEA. IV. HYPOTHESIS In this research paper, I hypnotize that the current activities from the US government, which includes law enforcement, intelligence, and military activities are causing a fusion in missions in Mexico. A second argument is that the CIA’s involvement in law enforcement activities will cause a significant and irreversible damage to the CIA in Latin America, as it will be forever viewed as a law enforcement agency and not as an intelligence agency. This research paper scrutinizes the activities by the US personnel in Mexico and the fusion of intelligence and law enforcement operations. V. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The methodology that will be applied to this research will be to collect information sources in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), journals, newspapers, and books, not using any classified documents and the application of a qualitative research method. These materials collected will help deduce conclusions. There are variables that play a role in this research: Corruption in Mexico, the participation of US forces training and providing support to Mexican authorities, technology deployments (including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), the political climate Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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in Mexico, and the use of SIGINT commonly used in low and high intensity conflict zones by the US. This research paper will have a framework limited to the operations in recent years during the drug war inside Mexico by the US. VI. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The line that divides intelligence activities normally handled by the CIA in Mexico, clandestine operations by the DOD, and law enforcement activities by agencies of the DOJ has disappeared. Today, the CIA and DEA are engaged in covert and overt operations in Mexico like never before in history. It is possible that the CIA will forever lose its position playing against terrorism and political intervention in Latin America because of the role it is playing in law enforcement. Simply put, the CIA may not be able to reach out to criminal enterprises in Latin America in the future in order to assist because these criminal organizations will not be sure if the CIA is or not playing the law enforcement role. This is by far the greatest loss to the US, as the world still has terrorist organizations, states and non-state actors looking to attack US interests. The following headings support the thesis in this paper. A. THE CIA STRONGER THAN THE DEA The argument between the DEA and CIA regarding operations where they have collided goes back to the 70’s or even earlier (of course DEA had a different name before). The article titled “How the CIA Infiltrated the DEA Operation Two-Fold,” by Doug Valentine explains the CIA and DEA problems (2012). Valentine states that “While investigating traffickers, federal drug agents are always unearthing the Establishment’s ties to organized crime and its proxy drug syndicates… in 1998, for example, in a series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News, reporter Gary Webb claimed that the CIA facilitated the flow of crack cocaine to the street gangs in Los Angeles” (Valentine, 2012). According to Valentine, the CIA Inspector General later admitted Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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that Webb was partially right (Valentine, 2012). Most claims that the CIA has been involved in the drug trade in the last 50 years have a way to disappear from the US media very quickly. Valentine writes about Operation Twofold that involved hiring CIA officers to spy on ranking officials of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), during the Johnson Administration (Valentine, 2012). This was the first time the CIA was hired to root out corruption with the high ranks of the BNDD and this operation resulted in zero dismissals (Valentine, 2012). In later years, DEA top officials expressed their concern with CIA operations and how they could cause conflict that would ultimately embarrass the US narcotic reduction effort (Valentine, 2012). Operation Two-Fold is just the tip of the iceberg. Since Operation TwoFold, it appears that the CIA has priority over DEA during narcotic investigations. B. CIA INVOLVED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING A plausible deniability from any covert operation by the CIA has always been the goal. Allegations of drug trafficking came to the forefront when an article by The New York Times titled “Anti-Drug Unit of the C.I.A. Sent Ton of Cocaine to the U.S. in 1990,” details an incident that begins in Venezuela (1993). In the article government officials admitted that a shipment of nearly pure cocaine was shipped from Venezuela by the CIA and that the drugs ended up being sold in the streets of the US (Weiner, 1993). It appears this one incident showed poor judgment by CIA agents and resulted in one officer resigning and the second one was disciplined (Weiner, 1993). In the article Weiner writes “Its exposure comes amid growing Congressional skepticism about the role of the C.I.A. in the war on drugs, (Weiner, 1993). During the Regan years the CIA was given the authorization to get involved in anti-drug programs in the major cocaineproducing and trafficking capitals (Weiner, 1993). During this operation a shipment of drugs would travel to the US but the DEA decided not to participate. DEA has resisted for the most Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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part in participating in questionable activities with the CIA, but the agency has witnessed many illegal activities and did nothing to stop them. During this incident, the CIA and General Guillen from the Venezuelan National Guard went along with the plan and the 1 Ton was shipped to the US and the drugs were sold in the streets of the US. Other shipments were intercepted by US authorities that belonged to Guillen, which begs the question, was the CIA continuing to run these operations? Attempts to indict General Guillen only cause the Chief of the State Department Melvin Levitsky providing general immunity to the General (Weiner, 1993). Counter-narcotic centers falling under the banner of liaison relationships with foreign intelligence continue to operate and the activities are never disclosed to Congress (Weiner, 1993). This and many other incidents have caused a significant doubt regarding the commitment of the CIA in drug interdiction and eradication. It all points to the contrary. C. CIA, DOJ, DOD, DHS IN MEXICO’S DRUG WAR In an article by The New York Times titled “U.S. Widens Role in Battle Against Mexican Drug Cartels,” Ginger Thomson writes that CIA and retired military personnel have been posted in different military posts (2011). Thomson adds that consideration for private security contractors are also part of the plan in order to assist Mexican officials in what Thomson refers as “embedding” of contractors inside Mexican counternarcotics police units” (2011). The idea of training and support works well for the Mexican government. DHS and DOD are doing the same providing some kind of training and support to the different Mexican agencies. On the other hand, Mexican law prohibits the operation of military and foreign intelligence bodies but due to the pressures from the drug cartels, Mexico is willing to bend the rules (2011). While the role from the agencies and contractors from the DOD, DHS, and DOJ are clearer, the role from Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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the CIA remains an issue of serious concern to Mexicans, academics, law professors, politicians, and high ranking people in every government agency in Mexico (civil and military). D. THE CIA CRIME AND NARCOTICS CENTER (CNC) There is an office in the CIA that has been commanded to fight the drug war. However, it appears that the level of operational involvement has jumped outside the mission for which it was created. The office is called “Center and Narcotics Center (CNC)” The CNC was created to support intelligence and analysis. According to the CIA’s website the CNC is “a leader in the Intelligence Community in crafting analysis and supporting or conducting operations to counter illicit drug activities, transnational crime, and war crimes that threaten US national Security Interests” (CIA.gov). It appears the role as claimed in the website is to provide support and write policy suggestions as well as set up so called sensors to figure out crop production. The CNC has also been asked to learn about organized crime, traffickers and terrorists (CIA.gov). Everything appears CNC is involved in the intelligence analysis and research, but the mission statement also talks about operational support specialists and program managers to support their colleagues overseas (CIA.gov). The fusion of these different targets is what makes the CIA’s role in the drug war more complicated. While analysis of Criminal Intelligence (CRIMINT) can be done by similar methods (compared to other kinds of intelligence) and the same members of the IC, a more difficult task is to figure out when these targets become entangled or form conspiracies to carry out similar acts. And lastly, the DEA has its own intelligence apparatus that basically fulfills a comparable mission as the CNC, so why duplicating activities? VII. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH In 1988, President of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected president. In 1992, an arrest of Carlos Enrique Cervantes de Gortari (Salinas’ cousin) and Magdalena Ruiz Pelayo (who Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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worked for Carlos’ father) were convicted of drug trafficking in the US and this was by far the first link between drug trafficking and the president of Mexico (Lupsha). The same year, President Salinas enacted the first written regulation on the DEA that required them to turn over any assets in Mexico and regulated locations where DEA would be station. The regulations put into law included how many DEA agents would be stationed inside Mexican territory and where. The restriction also stated that DEA agents would not carry weapons (Lupsha). This could be a way to get back at the DEA for the series of arrests from not only relatives of the Mexican President Salinas, but also heads of important drug cartels in Mexico. This paper perhaps provides more questions than answers to the involvement of the CIA and DEA in Mexico. In a recent article by CNN World, titled “Are criminals, terrorists, and Bolivarians teaming up against America? Patrick Stewart provides a series of reasons for why the CIA and DEA are recently becoming partners in Latin America. Stewart points to the complex relationships between criminal networks, terrorists, and sovereign anti-American states (2012). According to Stewart, criminal networks and terrorists have a greater degree of success depending on the governability of a state. Stewart writes “the connections between transnational criminals and transnational terrorists are growing. In the past, it has been commonplace to describe these relationships as at best episodic and tactical” (Stewart, 2012). True that a cartel needing guns could resort to purchase them from a terrorist organization. Likewise, terrorist organizations resort to the use of the supply channels of the cartels to sell their drugs. Stewarts point at two similarities between these two groups as criminals are engaging in terrorist acts to attack other rival groups and the sate and terrorists are also engaging in drug trafficking to raise funds (Stewart, 2012). Stewart states that there is an increasing presence of Hezbollah in the Americas and the links to major criminal organizations, insurgent groups and Consulting Training Intelligence Municipal Services Transportation Security Airport Security Homeland Security Policy Contingency Risks Political Services Political Intelligence Political Risks
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governments (Stewart, 2012). Further research is necessary to assess the position of the CIA in Mexican operations against the drug war. A threat outside the drug war still exists in Latin America. The Bolivarian states: Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua are anti-American and can not be ignored. The CIA’s involvement in law enforcement activities will most definitely debilitate its effectiveness. While the drug war is a law enforcement problem, the CIA must be able to address the looming threats of four countries with some serious ties to terrorist organizations, anti-American sentiments and adversary states. And here is where the mission of the DEA is not compatible to fight a threat where the CIA is highly effective i.e. an insurgency or subversion. In a lesser role, Argentina is also implementing socialist policy and becoming close ally to Hugo Chavez.
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REFERENCES Archibold, Randal C. and Eric Schmitt. Americans Shot in Mexico Were C.I.A. Operatives Aiding in Drug War. The New York Times, August 28, 2012. Accessed on September 1, 2012. www.nytimes.com. “Agentes de la CIA venian de Afganistan y entraron clandestinamente a Mexico, Cual es la verdad? Historiasdelnarco.com, August 31, 2012. Accessed on September 1, 2012. www.historiasdelnarco.com Arsenault, Chris. Mexico: State official claims CIA ‘manages’ drug trade. Global Information Network. New York; 24 July 2012. Accessed on September 1, 2012 via ProQuest, AMU. Perez, Evan. U.S. News: Fresh Criticism of Fast and Furious. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2012: A.4. ProQuest Document. Accessed August 18, 2012. Stewart, Patrick. Are criminals, terrorists, and Bolivarians teaming up against America? CNN World. September 12th, 2012. Accessed September 15,2012. http://globalpublications.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/are-criminals-terrorists-and-bolivariansteaming-up-against-america/ The CIA Crime and Narcotics Center. Accessed on September 10, 2012. www.cia.gov. Thomson, Ginger. U.S. Widens Role in Battle Against Mexican Drug Cartels.” The New York Times, August 6, 2011. Accessed on September 9, 2012. www.nytimes.com.
Valentine, Douglas. How the CIA Infiltrated the DEA Operation Two-Fold. Deep Politics Forum, 06-07-2012. Accessed on September 9, 2012. https:deeppoliticsforum.com. Weiner, Tim. Anti-Drug Unit of the C.I.A. Sent Ton of Cocaine to U.S. in the 1990.” The New York Times, November 20, 1993. Accessed on September 9, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/20/world/anti-drug-unit-of-cia-sent-ton-of-cocaine-to-U.S.-in1990.
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