Clarifying the Washington Times' House of Death reporting

There also is one correction in order.

The times story refers to the “House of Death at 3633 Call Pardoners.” The actual address of the House of Death in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is Calle Parsioneros 3633.
On the clarification front, the Times reports the following in its story:

Mr. Gonzalez, claiming a poor performance review he received was in retaliation for comments he made in the House of Death case, sued for discrimination and after a jury trial in Miami, the Justice Department agreed in June 2007 to pay the veteran DEA supervisor $385,000 to settle the claim, while not admitting any liability or fault.

Former DEA Special Agent in Charge Sandalio Gonzalez was successful in his trial, with the jury returning a verdict in his favor. The settlement occurred after that point, to avoid a drawn-out appeals process. But it is important to note that a jury found in Gonzalez’ favor after a trial based on the facts.

The second clarification is required with respect to this passage from the Times story:

The ICE informant was named in court records as Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez Peyro, 35, a Mexican national who also was known as "Lalo." The drug gang enforcer was identified in an ICE debriefing report as Alejandro "Alex" Garcia, who coordinated smuggling for the Carrillo Fuentes cartel. That report also named the two State Judicial Police officers as being on the gang's payroll.

The Times' wording leads to the impression that Garcia was a top dog in the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes (VCF) drug organization. In fact, he was a much lower-level player. Garcia was the “caretaker” for the House of Death, and as such had a minor status within the organization compared with the informant Ramirez (who eventually rose to become the No. 2 man in the Juarez narco-trafficking cell overseen by Heriberto Santillan Tabares, according to a DEA report.)

That DEA report — known as the “Threat Assessment,” or the DEA Timeline, — is referenced in the Times story and was obtained and published by Narco News exclusively two years ago. That DEA Timeline describes Garcia’s role at the House of Death as follows:

… At that time, the CS [the informant Ramirez], Alejandro Garcia-Cardenas (criminal associate and caretaker for the residence), and two alleged Chihuahua State Police officers killed Fernando [the first murder victim] by means of strangulation/suffocation and blunt force trauma. …

… After the killing of Fernando, CS left and met with Santillan. CS related that Alejandro Garcia was left with the responsibility of disposing of the body. …

In the narco-trafficking world, being assigned to the body-disposal detail is not high-prestige work.

One of the key players not mentioned in the Times story is Miguel Loya, who at the time of the House of Death murders was a night shift commander for the Chihuahua State Judicial Police in Juarez. Loya is described in the DEA Timeline as essentially being Santillan’s chief enforcement officer.

Loya is a ruthless killer and personally carried out some of the executions at the House of Death. In one case, two drug mules lost a load of Loya’s marijuana to a seizure by the Juarez municipal police. The two men were brought to the House of Death, told to lift their shirts over their faces, and then Loya shot them in the head at point blank range using a pistol with a silencer. That’s what the informant Ramirez (who also operated under the codename Jesus Contreras) told Mexican authorities in a statement he provided on Feb. 12, 2004.

After the House of Death fiasco came to light in early 2004 with the near assassination of a DEA agent and his family, a U.S. prosecutor and ICE supervisors in El Paso refused to allow the informant Ramirez to assist DEA with the apprehension of other VCF targets who were believed to still pose a threat to federal agents. The stalling and delaying on the part of ICE and the prosecutor resulted in a number of violent criminals escaping the DEA’s dragnet. Among them was Miguel Loya.

More from the DEA Timeline:

BICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] management refused to allow the CS [Ramirez] to call Loya for the purposes of arrest by counterparts. They alleged that the scenario was not plausible and arrest under those circumstances could compromise the CS.

… [DEA] requested BICE access to their CS [the informant Ramirez] in order to garner any additional information that the CS might have on [Miguel] Loya … as well as the possibility of a lure on Loya. BICE responded that the U.S. Attorney’s office, in conjunction with the BICE SAC [special agent in charge], had ordered that no other agency could debrief the CS. ….

Mexican state police Commander Miguel Loya Gallegos disappeared in January 2004.

Several of his associates disappeared, too, vexing law enforcement agents who said at the time that their mysterious disappearance -- and consequent unavailability as potential witnesses to multiple murders -- could prove very convenient to the U.S. government.

Photos of Miguel Loya and Heriberto Santillan Tabares can be found at this link.

In addition, a hand drawing depicting the locations of where the bodies were buried at the House of Death was recently obtained by Narco News. The drawing is referenced as an attachment to the DEA Timeline, but was not included in the original copy of the document obtained by Narco News. It recently surfaced, however.

The drawing can be found at this link.