FLE

EDITORIAL: Border agent murder outrage

The Justice Department and the White House have some explaining to do with regard to the investigation of the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar, 35, in January - in particular, whether Washington bothered to request Navarro's extradition.

Mr. Aguilar was attempting to stop two suspected drug smugglers Jan. 19 about 20 miles west of Yuma, Ariz., as they fled back into Mexico. The six-year Border Patrol veteran was trying to lay spike strips to stop the pair when he was struck and killed by a Hummer, allegedly driven by Navarro. The suspect was arrested three days later by Mexican authorities after an international manhunt. The Mexican Embassy in Washington, which announced Navarro's arrest, said he had been driving a Hummer, "presumably carrying drugs," when Border Patrol agents attempted to stop the vehicle, and that "Agent Aguilar was run down, and Mr. Navarro fled the scene back to Mexican territory." The statement said that Navarro (who had served time for transporting illegal aliens to the United States) would be prosecuted in Mexico, but that the Mexican government was awaiting an extradition request from the United States.

Fast forward to last month: Navarro applied for and was granted bail after being "cleared" of an unrelated migrant-smuggling charge. The Mexican government says it knew nothing about Navarro's release until after it occurred, and that it is now trying to put him behind bars. But that begs the question of how Navarro could be released given that the Mexican government itself had issued a statement implicating him in drug smuggling and running down Mr. Aguilar with his Hummer.

But the U.S. government (and in particular, the White House and the Justice Department) also has questions to answer. Mexico said late last month that Washington had not issued an arrest warrant, provided evidence or contacted it regarding Navarro's extradition. Then, on Thursday, Mexico said that U.S. officials did in fact make "a provisional arrest request for extradition purposes" - but did so more than a week after Navarro's release. So, we've heard Mexico's versions of what happened in the Navarro case (both of them.) It's past time for the White House and the Justice Department to come forward with their own explanation of how things were fouled up, and why Jesus Navarro Montes is a free man.