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(U) Another Mexican Domestic Spying Scandal

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Information CutoffDate: 27 July 2001
Publication Date: 27 July 2001
(0/99k" On 4 July 2001, Mexico's Office of the Attorney General of the Republic
(PGR) announced that it had begun dismantling an espionage network that conducted
illegal wiretaps. This network, located in the state of Mexico, had been in operation since
1994. Of the 35 people arrested for illegal wiretapping, 11 were released on bail for 90
days. Many of those arrested worked for the now defunct Federal Directorate of National
Security. Furthermore, the Special Unit Against Organized Crime (UEDO) stated that
nine of the arrested people also claimed they worked for the state of Mexico.
(U//Fo&~ Although the disclosed spy network is being disbanded, security forces in the
state of Mexico claim that the state has other intelligence networks with at least 10
security cells. These cells consist of 200 employees who monitor and investigate the
activities of politicians, businessmen, and social leaders who oppose or criticize

Governor Arturo Montiel Rojas' administration. These employees were hired as

operations police.
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Per DIA

0 Information collected from these types of spy networks is frequently used against
political opposition, sold to criminals or drug traffickers for kidnappings and blackmail,
and used to solicit bribes to prevent the leak of embarrassing information.

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Per DOS

Per DOS

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(U/aA ?0j This is not the first case of domestic spying, which became institutionalized
during decades of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) rule, uncovered in Mexico. In
September 2000, newspaper reports claimed that conversations between President
Vincente Fox, his election transition team, and the National Action Party's National
Executive Committee were recorded by the outgoing PRI. Earlier, on 28 July 2000, the
Oaxaca governor reported that his office had been bugged. Furthermore, on 31 October
2000, illegal wiretapping was detected in the offices of the Governor and the General
Secretary of Government in Cuernavaca in Morelos State. An illegal government
wiretapping center was also uncovered in the southern city of Campeche. Records from
the center revealed the purchase of $1.2 million in surveillance equipment from Israel and
thousands of pages of transcripts dating back to 1991.
{U/[-WX4 J'j ACIC POC for this article is
Operations Branch, commercial

Force Protection/Information

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(U) ACIC Terrorism Summary, 16 June 2004

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Information CutoffDate: 16 June 2004
Publication Date: 16 June 2004
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(ID Mexican Report Describes CISEN's Problems

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Information CutoffDate: 27 July 2001
Publication Date: 1 August 2001
(U1/FjQkft1) On 20 July 2001, the Interior Secretariat released a 16-page report prepared

by Eduardo Medina Mora Icaza, the new Director of the Center of Investigation and
National Security (CISEN)_ The report confirms that during the 71-year reign of the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the CISEN conducted domestic political
espionage. During that time, the CISEN also provided information to satisfy special

political interests. In the report, Mora cited a number of CISEN's weaknesses: the release
of its reports to unauthorized customers, the exaggeration of threats, and the overall
uselessness of CISEN's intelligence products because of political influences. During the

review process, weaknesses were also found relating to CISEN's daily work performance,
structure, and organization. CISEN also had poor institutional skills, inadequate strategic
planning, and was found to have limited international cooperation, which is unsuitable in
a globalized security environment. However, according to Mora, the CISEN was not
penetrated by drug traffickers. Starting in 1994, especially after the emergence of the

Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), the federal government, with CISEN's help,
supported the creation of information and analysis intelligence units in the states that
were not subject to oversight and were engaged in the illegal use of wiretaps.
(U//U~) Mora claims that all CISEN wiretapping operations have ceased until a new
CISEN organization is in place. The new CISEN will focus on the collection and analysis
of information but will not be obligated to political interests. Mora also stated that once
the organization is reconstituted, CISEN's ability to conduct legal telephone wiretaps
against organized crime would be enhanced by the passing of a National Security Law in
the Mexican Congress. Currently, only the Office of the Attorney General (PGR) can
authorize wiretaps. The PGR acts through the Organized Crime Special Unit (UEDO)
and a judge's authorization is necessary before a wiretap can commence. The new CISEN
will have to strengthen its coordination with the Secretariats of National Defense, the
Navy, Public Safety, Finance, Administrative Development, the Presidential General
Staff, and the Office of the President's National Security Adviser.
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Per DIA

(U//F,OW15 Mora's revelation that CISEN assisted in the establishment of state

intelligence agencies for use by local PRI officials helps to explain the recent rash of
wiretapping scandals. The impetus for the CISEN report was the recent wiretapping
scandal (Toluca-gate) in the state of Mexico, which has revised the debate about CISEN's

future. CISEN's past wiretapping activities are not the only illegal activities in question.
CISEN also has been involved in the disappearance of leftists and other dissidents dating
back to the 1970s, and there have been calls for a truth commission that would release
CISEN documents on the matter- Regardless, whether Mora and President Vincente Fox
can permanently change the domestic spying culture of the CISEN remains to be seen.
(U) ACIC POC for this article is
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(U) Mexico's Domestic Spying

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Information Cutoff Date: 27 November 2000

Publication Date: 2 January 2001
(U) A wiretapping scandal has been underway for the past several months in Mexico. In
September 2000, newspaper reports claimed that conversations between President
Vincente Fox, his election transition team, and the National Action Party's, National

Executive Committee had been recorded by the outgoing Institutional Revolutionary

Party (PRI). According to the "El Universal" newspaper, the telephone tapping, which
was done during the Fox presidential campaign, continues to occur. Earlier, on 28 July
2000, the Oaxaca governor reported that his office had been bugged. On 31 October
2000, "El Universal" reported that wiretapping had been detected in the offices of the

Governor and the General Secretary of Government in Cuernavaca in Morelos State.

Besides opposition, politicians, journalists, several state supreme court justices, and
human rights activists also been have targeted. An illegal government wiretapping center
was also uncovered in the southern city of Campeche. Records from the center revealed
the purchase of $1.2 million in surveillance equipment from Israel and thousands of
pages of transcripts dating back to 1991. President Fox and his newly appointed National
have promised to dismantle Mexico's illegal wiretapping
Security Chief, bs
operation.

(U)

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Per DIA

0 Although President Fox intends to restructure the government's national intelligence

infrastructure, previous Mexican presidents also have promised to effectively reorganize
the national intelligence service without long-term success.

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Per DOS

(U) ACIC POC for this article is

Operations Branch, commercial

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Force Protection/Information

(L) The ACIC Counterintelligence Periodic Summary

(CIPS), March 1997
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Information CutoffDate: I March 1997

Publication Date: 1 March 1997

Mexico's Intelligence to Reorganize (U)

(U) According to a February Mexican media report, the Mexican government is planning
to reorganize its civilian and military intelligence components. The reorganization is in
response to the revelation that the former commissioner of the National Institute for
Combating Drugs (INCD), General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, had provided counterdrug
intelligence to the country's drug cartels. The Defense Secretariat, the Foreign Relations
Secretariat, and the Attorney General's Office will reportedly meet to plan the
reorganization and to attempt to uncover Rebollo's collaborators in the national
intelligence community.

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Per DIA

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Per DOS

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