District Attorney for the Sixth Judicial District Francesca Estevez announced today that she has been made aware of irregularities in the handling and storing of evidence by law enforcement officers assigned to the federally funded Region VII HIDTA Drug task force. The Region VII Drug Task Force is comprised of local law enforcement officers assigned exclusively to the Drug Task Force to investigate and prosecute drug trafficking in Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties. The Task Force is under the supervision and control of The Region VI Drug Task Force board comprised of Homeland Security, local law enforcement agencies, the New Mexico State Police and federal agencies involved in drug enforcement. The District Attorney is a member of the task force board but has no supervisory role over the activities of the task force.
The discovery of irregularities and lack of internal controls as it relates to the collection, preservation and storage of criminal evidence by task force personnel was made by Mark Payne, Regional Director of the Southwest Border HIDTA-New Mexico program.
These irregularities do not concern any cases with local law enforcement where the evidence was held in the local law enforcement's vault.
"This is a very serious situation as it may directly impact the District Attorney's Office ability to prosecute cases from this Drug Task Force. We have notified the defense bar about the irregularities. We have a duty to the citizens of Grant, Luna and Hidalgo County to pursue justice, which includes proper conduct by law enforcement. My obligation as the District Attorney is to the Constitution and to transparency in government. Our office continues to support and trust the honest work of the vast majority of our law enforcement," Estevez said.
The situation included an audit of cases and evidence and a report was made to the appropriate agencies so that the irregularities could be addressed and corrected.
Any questions should be directed to the chairman of the Region VII HIDTA Drug Task Force, at 575-546-2759.