ICE agent's parents look for answers

The parents of ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata are not much closer to knowing the circumstances surrounding his death than they were a year ago.

Even U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she doesn’t know if the weapons used to kill Zapata in an attack in Mexico on Feb. 15, 2011, are tied to Operation Fast and Furious.

“I don’t know one way or another,” Napolitano told the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security at a hearing held on the first anniversary of Zapata’s death. Another ICE special agent, Victor Avila, was wounded in the attack.

Under Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly monitored criminals trafficking arms within the United States and allowed guns to “walk” into Mexico. The aim was to identify major weapons smugglers and drug cartel operatives.

House committee members continue to search for answers regarding Zapata’s murder on a sparsely populated stretch of Highway 57 in the state of San Luis Potosí.

Zapata’s parents, Mary Zapata-Muñoz and Amador Zapata Jr. — who indicated to The Brownsville Herald that they fear a cover-up — continue their quest for answers.

“How many times was he shot?” Zapata’s mother said to The Herald, showing how much is still unknown. “My son did not go there to kill anybody.”

“Who sent him and why did they send him? Who was the person in charge of that? Would that person have gone? Would anybody else have gone by themselves? I don’t think so,” she said.

Officials say Zapata and Avila were attacked by members of the Zetas drug cartel as the two agents were driving back to Mexico City after meeting up in San Luis Potosí with staff assigned to Monterrey. Zapata and Avila reportedly were picking up some equipment.

“How it is that Jaime and Victor got on a road that was basically warned about? What type of equipment were they picking up that was so important that led two agents on a very dangerous road going back and forth to Mexico City?” said Trey Martinez, an attorney who represents both the Zapata family and Avila.

The refusal of several federal agencies to hand over information regarding the attack isn’t helping matters. Martinez said he had requested information under the Freedom of Information Act, and when his requests were denied, he appealed the decisions.

Martinez said that appeals also have been denied.

“They denied our requests, citing among other things, ongoing investigation, which prevents them from giving us information,” the attorney said.

After the appeals were denied, the Zapatas received a letter stating that they could file a Freedom of Information case in federal court. This option is under review, Martinez said.

“We know very little from what the government can tell us,” he said.

“Why wasn’t there backup following them? They generally use shipping services because of the danger involved in something like that,” he continued.

“We have also asked to look at the vehicle that the special agents were in and we have been denied access. We’ve heard different stories about how the people were able to get their guns inside the vehicle,” he added.

He said it took a number of months to get information about any kind of autopsy. Martinez did not offer any more details about that.

“We are trying to get information in order to get the parents closure. As a mother, I can’t imagine not knowing all the facts behind your son’s death — I mean all the facts,” Martinez said.

He said another big question is whether the weapons used to kill Zapata and injure Avila were related to any gun-walking operation that the United States sanctioned.

According to a transcript of Wednesday’s hearing in Washington, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Napolitano, “So you can’t conclusively say one way or the other whether there’s a link to these weapons and Fast and Furious?”

“That’s true,” Napolitano answered. She also said she hoped ATF did not mislead the Department of Homeland Security on Operation Fast and Furious.

The Zapatas said last week that they are tired of the warring in Mexico that keeps family, friends and visitors apart and in fear. They are also tired of gun-running operations that send weapons to Mexico that then threaten law enforcement and the innocent.

“Enough is enough,” they said.

“All these weapons that are being walked, why?” Zapata’s mother said. “A weapon does not have an expiration date like milk does. Milk has what, a 10-day expiration date, but a weapon doesn’t.”

Brownsville Herald Reporter Laura B. Martinez contributed to this report.