Belated Justice

In central Mexico Ruben Zuno Arce is known as Don Ruben, wealthy cattleman, son of a governor, brother-in-law of a Mexican President and an influential provincial political boss. In the U.S. last week the dapper Zuno, 60, added another credential to his resume: convicted felon. A Los Angeles jury found him guilty of racketeering, kidnapping conspiracy, and aiding and abetting the 1985 kidnap-murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena.

DEA agents burst into grins and clapped one another on the back. Zuno is the most prominent of the seven men tried so far in connection with the still unsolved Camarena murder. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors charged that Zuno, arrested last year while visiting Los Angeles, was a top executive of the Guadalajara drug cartel and a power broker who used his political connections in Mexico City to protect vast cocaine and marijuana operations.

When DEA investigations threatened those operations, prosecutors said, Zuno plotted with drug kingpins and several prominent Mexican officials to have Camarena kidnapped and tortured. The object was to find out how much U.S. agents knew about the traffickers and their patrons in the government. A cartel bodyguard turned government witness testified that a few months before the abduction, Zuno told the other alleged conspirators that Camarena should be interrogated on what he knew about "my general," referring to General Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, then Mexico's Secretary of Defense. U.S. officials claim that a transcript of a torture-interrogation session, which the kidnappers taped, shows that Camarena was asked about Arevalo. DEA agents hope that Zuno, who could receive a life sentence, will weaken and talk about other powerful people behind Camarena's death.

Next on trial will be Humberto Alvarez Machain, a Guadalajara physician accused of giving medicine to Camarena during the torture sessions so he would survive until his questioning was complete. The capture of Alvarez, who was tracked down by Mexican bounty hunters and delivered to DEA agents in El Paso, has caused a rift between the U.S. and Mexico. The Mexican government is demanding the arrest and extradition of the DEA agent who masterminded the snatch. Retorts U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh: "It's a mistake for the government of Mexico not to cooperate ((in bringing)) to justice those persons who have contributed to this dreadful incident."