
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990                   TAG: 9005030245
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

DEA DIDN'T HELP KIDNAP SUSPECT, CHIEF MAINTAINS

Drug enforcement chief Terrence M. Burke denied Wednesday that his agents played a role in abducting a Mexican doctor and sending him to the United States to face charges in the murder of a drug agent.

"We did not have any agent actively participate in the planning and execution" of the operation, the acting head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration told a Senate hearing.

Humberto Alvarez Machain was abducted from his Guadalajara office April 2 and flown by private jet the following day to El Paso, Texas, where he was arrested in connection with the 1985 torture-killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.

Mexico's government has strongly protested the method of Alvarez Machain's capture and said over the weekend it would demand the extradition of anyone involved. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari complained to Vice President Dan Quayle last week in Mexico City, and Quayle told him no American agents were involved.

The DEA has placed a high priority on capturing those suspected of involvement in Camarena's killing. Alvarez Machain, who American authorities believe monitored Camarena's condition during the torture, was indicted on charges of participating in the murder.

Salinas, speaking at The Associated Press annual luncheon on April 23 in Los Angeles, said the seizure of Alvarez Machain could jeopardize the war against drugs.

"This runs the risk of creating illegal habits among those who have the obligation of defending the law and could create a problem much larger than the one we are trying to combat," he said.

But Burke told the Senate Appropriations Committee, which fashions the Justice Department's money bill, "we broke no United States law that I'm aware of."

Senators noted published reports that a former Mexican police official has been on the DEA payroll and may have participated in planning the Alvarez Machain abduction. But they did not press Burke on the point.

Four men claiming they were Mexican federal police seized the gynecologist April 2. Mexican authorities said Saturday that a former Mexican policeman arrested in connection with the abduction said he was told it was a DEA operation.

Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., told Burke that he would take his statement that no laws were violated "on its face."

Burke said he met with Mexican officials last week and assured them American agents did not take part in the operation.

A long line of U.S. court decisions have held that a fugitive can stand trial in the United States even if the arrest overseas was improper or illegal. A Justice Department opinion issued earlier this year said the FBI had the authority to seize fugitives in a foreign country without permission from that nation's government.

by CNB