Mexico: Dirty Tactics in Operation Clean-Up

The attempt to clean up the Attorney General's Office (PGR) appears to be threatened by deficiencies in the investigation which have already resulted in judicial losses in favor of some of the accused. And what's worse, it might have to face an international denunciation for employing "dirty means" in its zeal to find culprits.

Inconsistencies, contradictions, and statements based on hearsay produced by protected witnesses may lead to the downfall of the so-called Operation Clean-Up, which is led by Federal Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora. The operation's aim is to "clean up" the institution responsible for combatting organized crime. The PGR has been infiltrated by drug traffickers for years.

The vices and failings in compiling the dossier PGR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/0241/2008 have begun to surface: the ex-chief of the Assistant Attorney General's Office for Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime (SIEDO), Noe Ramirez Mandujano, won an injunction in the 6th District Criminal Court which blocked the extension of his administrative detention for 40 more days. However, the PGR announced on December 25, 2008, that it had requested an appeal of the injunction, which is why the ex-federal official remains detained, but not under administrative detention, and his legal situation could be resolved in another month.

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