Pubdate: Thu,  6 Feb 2003
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2003 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: James Pinkerton

EX-POLICE OFFICIAL WITH DRUG LINKS IS GUNNED DOWN

HARLINGEN - A former top commander of Mexico's federal police was
gunned down Wednesday morning as he left his lawyer's office in
downtown McAllen, a hit some believe was meant to shield Mexican
officials involved in drug trafficking.

McAllen police say Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni, 54, was shot once in
the head and neck area at 10:54 a.m. as he got into his Mercedes-Benz
in the parking lot of the offices of his attorney, Robert Yzaguirre.
The law firm also helped defend convicted Matamoros drug kingpin Juan
Garcia Abrego, who set up the so-called Gulf Coast drug cartel.

"As far as motive, we haven't established one. All we can say is that
it happened," said officer Al Cantu, adding that no suspects have been
identified.

In the hours after his slaying, however, veteran law officials in the
Rio Grande Valley noted that Gonzalez Calderoni had recently offered
to return to Mexico and provide the government with the names of
corrupt officials.

"He's been on television a couple of times, saying that if the Mexican
government were to call him back he would give information, name
names," one agent noted. And the former police official was being
considered as a possible witness in a drug conspiracy case.

Cantu said Gonzalez Calderoni was killed by a single, large-caliber
bullet fired at close range through the window of the driver's side
seat, where he was sitting. A second man, whom the police declined to
identify, was sitting next to Gonzalez Calderoni during the attack and
was unhurt. The ex-police official was pronounced dead at 12:24 p.m.
at McAllen Medical Center.

Gonzalez Calderoni once headed the Mexican attorney general's
antinarcotics aerial interception program and led major operations
against Mexican drug traffickers in the late 1980s, according to
Mexican newspaper accounts.

But Gonzalez Calderoni fled Mexico to McAllen, where in December 1994
he defeated attempts by his government to extradite him. He was
accused of torture and abuse of authority -- charges he denied --
during the 1990 questioning of suspects in the slaying of three
Mexican police agents.

The Mexican government also accused Gonzalez Calderoni of illegal
enrichment, claiming that on his police salary, he had amassed a
fortune, including mansions and ranches, which he could not explain.

Police said there have been conflicting accounts of the gunman and
getaway vehicle.
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