Official looks back on career

Organized crime doesn’t respect borders. That’s why Alonzo Peña looks back on his career in law enforcement and believes that one of his greatest accomplishments is the increased cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities.

A native of South Texas, Peña worked his way to the top ranks of his profession. Now, at 55, he is retiring from his position as deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, D.C.

A stronger working relationship between Mexican and U.S. authorities has led to significant gains in the fight against organized crime, Peña says. He gives as an example the recent death of Antonio Ezequiel “Tony Tormenta” Cardenas Guillen, one of the heads of the Gulf Cartel.

“What I think we are seeing is the result of an effort by both the U.S. and Mexico along the border to break the impunity that has existed among some of the cartels,” Peña said. He described it as “an effort to bring a rule of law and a control of the border area.”

“We have more personnel, more resources. It is much more difficult for the cartels to operate as they have in the past,” said Peña, who was born in Falfurrias and went to college at Pan American University in Edinburg.

While much of the work he has done with ICE couldn’t be discussed for reasons of security, one of his key contributions came in 2004 with the establishment of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force, or BEST — law enforcement officials from local, state and federal agencies as well as Mexican intelligence officials who work hand in hand.

“I had the opportunity to start the first BEST in Laredo,” Peña said. “That was when we started to see an increased level in violence in Nuevo Laredo with some murders taking place in broad daylight.”

The concept of BEST task forces quickly spread and is now being used in some of the main border cities.

The Brownsville BEST team played a pivotal role in the investigation of the recent double murder of Omar Castillo Flores and Guadalupe Perez along FM 511. The crime was deemed to be a hit ordered by the Gulf Cartel, according to Brownsville Police Chief Carlos Garcia. Cooperation between Brownsville police and BEST helped authorities identify two suspects from Nuevo Laredo who are reputed to be hired assassins with the Gulf Cartel.

Mexico ties

Before assuming his current position, Peña was the U.S. Department of Homeland Security attache in Mexico City, serving as the department’s senior diplomat and liaison to the government of Mexico. One of his main duties was developing networks between Mexican law enforcement agencies and their American counterparts.

“We are very aware that drug cartels don’t respect international borders,” he said. “They operate in Mexico and they operate in the U.S. That is why we must work together to better deal with them. Any information that we have as to who they are or where they are, we share it with our contacts in Mexico and likewise they share information with us.”

ICE and other agencies of the Department of Homeland Security have made it a priority to slow the traffic of weapons, ammunition and bulk cash from the U.S. into Mexico.

“That is the main concern that our counterparts (in Mexico) have expressed,” Peña said. “This is the area where they (said) they needed the most help.”

Peña said ICE worked closely with Mexican authorities in investigating the massacre of 72 migrants in San Fernando, Tamps., a couple of months ago. As a result, Mexican authorities arrested eight members of the Zetas.

As for the ongoing drug problem in Mexico, Peña said despite the U.S. making progress, it will be several years before the tide really turns.

“The drug problem was not created in a few years and it will not be solved in a six-year term,” he said, referring to the term of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Hope

“This is a long-term campaign,” he continued. “We have a great challenge in decreasing the consumption of drugs. We can do this through education and rehabilitation programs as well as through law enforcement.”

The task is not impossible, Peña said.

“Take, for example, Colombia or Italy,” he said. “A few years ago organized crime was a very big problem there. Now, the problem is not over, but it has been greatly reduced. Criminal organizations can’t operate with impunity in those countries like they used to.”

Peña began his law enforcement career in 1982 as a state trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Two years later he moved to federal agencies, first with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and later with U.S. Customs. After the Customs Service became Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Pena held several positions, including special agent in charge in San Antonio and in Phoenix, and acting special agent in charge in Houston.

In retirement, he plans to continue working to build and improve relationships between the United States and Mexico, particularly in relation to trade and border security.