Blowing the Whistle on the House of Death

DEA dissenter Sandy Gonzalez reveals the drug war's complicity in torture and murder south of the border.

Radley Balko from the May 2009 issue

(Page 2 of 6)

reason: So they were upset about the letter, but not what was actually in the letter?

Gonzalez: Well, prior to the letter, everyone was upset at the way ICE was behaving in general. ICE and the U.S. Attorney’s Office had also prevented us from setting up a meeting to capture the corrupt police commander in Mexico, who was basically the head of the kidnapping squad for the cartel. So there was already tension between the DEA and ICE. But once I wrote the letter, they focused all their anger on the letter and me. I think at that point they realized that this whole mess was now a matter of record. So they went after the guy who put it on the record.

reason: You have said in other interviews that you wrote the letter because you saw signs that the investigation was looking more like a cover-up than an actual investigation.

Gonzalez: Right. There were two investigations going on. The first was the investigation into the threat against the federal agents. The [DEA agent’s] manual says you investigate threats against agents immediately. So we had guys working on that daily. This was going to Washington every day.
Apparently ICE was doing their own investigation from their end, and they were reporting to their own headquarters at the Department of Homeland Security. When the headquarters officials met in Washington, it became clear to me that what was being reported by ICE and what was being reported by DEA were very different. I said, “Bullshit. I mean, this is murder we’re talking about here, multiple murders, and something’s got to be done.”

reason: At that point, the DEA had already dropped Lalo as an informant, right?

Gonzalez: Yeah. They dropped him the previous July after he was caught at the border with an unauthorized stash of marijuana. He had a load—I can’t remember if it was 100 pounds or 100 kilos of marijuana.

reason: But ICE kept using him, not only after he’d been caught smuggling while working as an informant but after they learned that he had participated in a murder while on their payroll.

Gonzalez: Correct.

reason: Why do you think they kept using him? Did they want to get more information on the cartel, or were they using him in other cases that they didn’t want to compromise?

Gonzalez: I think it was a combination of those two things. They were also using him in some huge cigarette smuggling case. And of course he was into this cell of the Juarez cartel headed by Heriberto Santillan. As long as he was there, he could provide information. So I think an assistant U.S. attorney asked the state’s attorney in New Mexico to dismiss the marijuana smuggling case against Lalo because that case would have gone to state court and blown Lalo’s identity.

reason: Of the 12 murders at the House of Death, in how many did ICE agents have prior knowledge that a homicide was about to take place?

Gonzalez: That’s the big question. That’s why they don’t want an investigation.

reason: There’s evidence that there were at least two where they had advance knowledge, correct?

Gonzalez: Lalo gave an affidavit or a declaration to the Mexican authorities—which, by the way, also almost didn’t happen. ICE and the U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t want him to even do that, but I guess they were feeling some pressure and gave in. I think in that declaration, Lalo admitted to taking part or being present—and it’s been a long time since I’ve read that—in five of those murders.

reason: And it was only after the threats against the DEA agents, then—not the murders of Mexican citizens—that ICE closed the investigation and stopped using him?

Comments

Divorce Lawyer|4.27.09 @ 12:49PM|#

Gonzalez called for an internal investigation, and was shortly thereafter transferred to El Paso, a move he describes as a demotion in retaliation for speaking out.

I can assure you that a transfer from Miami to El Paso is a demotion. A major demotion. Welcome to your new home.

Paul|4.27.09 @ 1:44PM|#

I think it was a combination of those two things. They were also using him in some huge cigarette smuggling case.

I uhh... never mind.

|4.27.09 @ 2:20PM|#

I have no interest in, or sympathy for, this gung-ho drug warrior of three decades. He's just the flip side of the Casa de la Muerte. Fuck him.

Paul|4.27.09 @ 2:37PM|#

I think what Widow White says has some merit to it. The first thing I thought while reading this article wasn't that Gonzales has a problem with the drug war, he's just got a problem with drug war procedure.

Randall|4.27.09 @ 2:38PM|#

"he's just got a problem with drug war procedure."

I thought that too.

Justen|4.27.09 @ 2:57PM|#

The big question is how many times has this happened without a whistleblower? It's clear that several agents were involved in this one situation and of them only Gonzalez had the slightest shred of integrity and humanity needed to find this outrageous. That puts the rest of them at the level of, I don't know, psychopathic zealots with sadistic streaks. It seems to be the norm for the DEA, doesn't it?

Bluto|4.27.09 @ 3:08PM|#

"Part and participle."

Sense and sensibility.

This is fun!

BTW Anne Hathaway was one hot Jane Austin.

Bluto|4.27.09 @ 3:09PM|#

Fuck! Cross-posted.

wayne|4.27.09 @ 3:14PM|#

Drug warrior spin: "Having the DEA engaged in a conspiracy with drug cartels and murdering people is a sign that the war on drugs is working."

|4.27.09 @ 3:29PM|#

Reading this I get the image of a bunch of government lawyers doing some killer blow on South Beach and then maybe only 9.7 kilos makes it way to a clandestine DEA op.

Atheist in Hell|4.27.09 @ 3:48PM|#

See, and this is why I wish I could be ignorant like the rest of this country.

johnl|4.27.09 @ 3:58PM|#

When was Raul Bencomo fired?

|4.27.09 @ 11:47PM|#

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