Juan Matta-Ballesteros
Encyclopedia
Juan Ramón Matta-Ballesteros (January 12, 1945 in Tegucigalpa
) (a.k.a: Ramón Matta, Juan Ramón Matta del Pozo, and Juan Ramón Matta Lopez) is a former drug lord
with ties to the Colombia
n Medellín Cartel
. In April 1988, he was taken from his Tegucigalpa home by United States Marshals
, sent to the United States
for trial, and convicted of the kidnap and assassination of Enrique Camarena
, as well as other charges.
Matta is serving 12 life sentences in the ADX Florence
Super Maximum Security Penitentiary near Florence, Colorado
.
first arrested Matta in 1970 at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, DC with 54 pounds (24.5 kg) of cocaine
. After escaping from the Federal prison camp at Eglin Air Force Base
in Florida, where he had been serving a three-year sentence for passport violations and illegal entry
into the United States, Matta was widely known as one of the key players in the establishment of the "Mexican Trampoline” -- the transportation of cocaine from Colombia (Medellín cartel
) into the United States via Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
's organization based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
, and had directly financed the Honduran "Cocaine Coup" that brought Paz into power. It is thought that from this relationship, Matta became involved in the Nicaraguan Contras
.
According to the "Selections from the Senate Committee Report on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy chaired by Senator John F. Kerry"
, “the Honduran airline SETCO "was the principal company used by the Contras
in Honduras to transport supplies and personnel for the FDN
carrying at least a million rounds of ammunition, food, uniforms and other military supplies for the Contras from 1983 through 1985. SETCO received funds for Contra supply operations from the Contra accounts established by Oliver North
.”
In a 1983 U.S. Customs Investigative Report found that “SETCO stands for Services Ejectutivos Turistas Commander and is headed by Juan Ramon Matta-Ballestros, a class I DEA violator.” The same report states that according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, “SETCO aviation is a corporation formed by American businessmen who are dealing with Matta and are smuggling narcotics into the United States.” Matta had been identified by the DEA in 1985 as the most important member of a consortium moving a major share (perhaps a third, perhaps more than half) of all the cocaine from Colombia to the United States. The DEA also believed that Matta was behind the kidnapping of a DEA agent in Mexico, Enrique Camarena
, who was subsequently tortured and murdered.
It has since been learned in the aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair
that Lt. Col. Oliver North had set up the bank accounts through which SETCO would be paid for services to the U.S. military. The July 9, 1984 entry in North's diary states, in North’s own handwritting, "wanted aircraft to go to Bolivia to pick up paste, want aircraft to pick up 1,500 kilos." The July 12, 1985 entry reads, "$14 million to finance[the arms] Supermarket came from drugs." August 9, 1985: "Honduran DC-9 which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." It is easy to see that when the local DEA office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras began to move against Matta in 1983, it was shut down.
The report went on to conclude that "the Colombian-Mexican relationship, developed by Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros, a Honduran with close ties to the Medellín groups, led to an explosion of cocaine shipments through Mexico, with cocaine seizures in that country rising from 2.3 tons in 1985 to 9.3 tons in 1987."
In March 1988, the political fallout from the Iran-Contra affair
devastated political support in Washington for the Contra war, and it began to be wound down. In April 1988, Matta, having outlived his usefulness, was taken from his Tegucigalpa home by United States Marshals
, sent to the United States
for trial.
Matta Ballesteros alleges that while en route to the US military base Palmerola
he was interrogated under torture (burning repeatedly with a high voltage stun gun). Later he was flown to the Dominican Republic were he was officially arrested for an outstanding warrant from 1971. From there, he was remanded to the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
Following his abduction, up to 2,000 protestors took to the streets of Tegucigalpa. U.S. Diplomats in Honduras said the riots were not in support of Mr. Matta, but in protest of the seizure of a Honduran citizen on criminal charges lodged by foreign governments, a direct violation of that country's Constitution. However, many said it was because Matta was well liked and seen as a "Robin Hood" figure in the Central American nation. In the end, some 6 people were killed and the annex to the U.S. Embassy was burned to the ground in protest.
Matta contested his arrest in 1988 on the grounds of violation of habeas corpus. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected his case. They found that “the circumstances surrounding Matta-Ballesteros's abduction, while disturbing to us and conduct we seek in no way to condone…” did not violate the Ker-Frisbie Doctrine
. However, Judge Noonan wrote “that the abductors were law enforcement officers of the United States, rather than some fanatic band, doubles the horror of their activity. If agents of the mightiest power on earth are unrestrained from kidnapping by legal authority -- or rather, in obedience to higher authority in the executive department, see themselves constrained to kidnap -- the freedom of individuals throughout the world is at the mercy of a decision made by an official of the United States Department of Justice."
Similarly, Matta's abduction was followed by that of Mexican Humberto Alvarez Machain
accused of complicity, like Matta, in the Camarena case. Machain fought his case on the illegality of the abduction; he won and was returned to Mexico.
Like other notable players in the Camarena case, like Rafael Caro Quintero
, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo
before him, Matta was eventually convicted as one of the masterminds behind the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. DEA Agent Enrique Camarena
in Guadalajara, Mexico. Further, Matta was later convicted for operating an importation and cocaine distribution ring into Van Nuys, California.
Matta is serving 12 life sentences in the ADX Florence
Super Maximum Security Penitentiary located outside of Pueblo in Florence, Colorado.
Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa , and commonly referred as Tegus , is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela. Founded on September 29, 1578 by the Spanish, it became the country's capital on October 30, 1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto...
) (a.k.a: Ramón Matta, Juan Ramón Matta del Pozo, and Juan Ramón Matta Lopez) is a former drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
with ties to the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
. In April 1988, he was taken from his Tegucigalpa home by United States Marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
, sent to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for trial, and convicted of the kidnap and assassination of Enrique Camarena
Enrique Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico July 26, 1947 - c. (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, February 9, 1985) was an undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration who was abducted on...
, as well as other charges.
Matta is serving 12 life sentences in the ADX Florence
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
Super Maximum Security Penitentiary near Florence, Colorado
Florence, Colorado
The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,653 at the 2000 census.ADX Florence, the only federal Supermax prison in the United States, is located south of Florence in an unincorporated area in Fremont County...
.
1970 DEA arrest
The DEADrug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
first arrested Matta in 1970 at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, DC with 54 pounds (24.5 kg) of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. After escaping from the Federal prison camp at Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County....
in Florida, where he had been serving a three-year sentence for passport violations and illegal entry
Illegal entry
Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like...
into the United States, Matta was widely known as one of the key players in the establishment of the "Mexican Trampoline” -- the transportation of cocaine from Colombia (Medellín cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
) into the United States via Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo is a convicted Mexican drug lord known as "El Padrino" who in the 1980s formed the Guadalajara Cartel and became the first drug czar in Mexico to control all illegal drug traffic in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico-U.S.A...
's organization based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Involvement with Contras
According to a 1978 DEA intelligence report, Matta had become business partners with General Policarpo Paz GarcíaPolicarpo Paz García
Policarpo Juan Paz García was a Honduran military leader and autocrat who served as President of Honduras from 7 August 1978 until 27 January 1982....
, and had directly financed the Honduran "Cocaine Coup" that brought Paz into power. It is thought that from this relationship, Matta became involved in the Nicaraguan Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
.
According to the "Selections from the Senate Committee Report on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy chaired by Senator John F. Kerry"
Kerry Committee report
The Kerry Committee report were hearings chaired by Senator John Kerry which found the United States Department of State had paid drug traffickers. Some of these payments were after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges or while traffickers were...
, “the Honduran airline SETCO "was the principal company used by the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
in Honduras to transport supplies and personnel for the FDN
Nicaraguan Democratic Force
The Nicaraguan Democratic Force was one of the earliest Contra groups, formed on August 11, 1981 in Guatemala City. It was formed to oppose Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
carrying at least a million rounds of ammunition, food, uniforms and other military supplies for the Contras from 1983 through 1985. SETCO received funds for Contra supply operations from the Contra accounts established by Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
.”
In a 1983 U.S. Customs Investigative Report found that “SETCO stands for Services Ejectutivos Turistas Commander and is headed by Juan Ramon Matta-Ballestros, a class I DEA violator.” The same report states that according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, “SETCO aviation is a corporation formed by American businessmen who are dealing with Matta and are smuggling narcotics into the United States.” Matta had been identified by the DEA in 1985 as the most important member of a consortium moving a major share (perhaps a third, perhaps more than half) of all the cocaine from Colombia to the United States. The DEA also believed that Matta was behind the kidnapping of a DEA agent in Mexico, Enrique Camarena
Enrique Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico July 26, 1947 - c. (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, February 9, 1985) was an undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration who was abducted on...
, who was subsequently tortured and murdered.
It has since been learned in the aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
that Lt. Col. Oliver North had set up the bank accounts through which SETCO would be paid for services to the U.S. military. The July 9, 1984 entry in North's diary states, in North’s own handwritting, "wanted aircraft to go to Bolivia to pick up paste, want aircraft to pick up 1,500 kilos." The July 12, 1985 entry reads, "$14 million to finance
The report went on to conclude that "the Colombian-Mexican relationship, developed by Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros, a Honduran with close ties to the Medellín groups, led to an explosion of cocaine shipments through Mexico, with cocaine seizures in that country rising from 2.3 tons in 1985 to 9.3 tons in 1987."
Arrest and conviction
Matta was arrested in 1986 in Colombia, but bought his way out of jail with a $2 million bribe and returned to Honduras.In March 1988, the political fallout from the Iran-Contra affair
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
devastated political support in Washington for the Contra war, and it began to be wound down. In April 1988, Matta, having outlived his usefulness, was taken from his Tegucigalpa home by United States Marshals
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
, sent to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for trial.
Matta Ballesteros alleges that while en route to the US military base Palmerola
Palmerola
Soto Cano Air Base is a Honduran military base to the south of Comayagua in Honduras. It houses between 500 - 600 US troops and is also used by the Honduran Air Force academy...
he was interrogated under torture (burning repeatedly with a high voltage stun gun). Later he was flown to the Dominican Republic were he was officially arrested for an outstanding warrant from 1971. From there, he was remanded to the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
Following his abduction, up to 2,000 protestors took to the streets of Tegucigalpa. U.S. Diplomats in Honduras said the riots were not in support of Mr. Matta, but in protest of the seizure of a Honduran citizen on criminal charges lodged by foreign governments, a direct violation of that country's Constitution. However, many said it was because Matta was well liked and seen as a "Robin Hood" figure in the Central American nation. In the end, some 6 people were killed and the annex to the U.S. Embassy was burned to the ground in protest.
Matta contested his arrest in 1988 on the grounds of violation of habeas corpus. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected his case. They found that “the circumstances surrounding Matta-Ballesteros's abduction, while disturbing to us and conduct we seek in no way to condone…” did not violate the Ker-Frisbie Doctrine
Ker-Frisbie Doctrine
The Ker-Frisbie doctrine is applied in the context of extradition and generally holds that criminal defendants may be prosecuted in United States courts regardless of whether their presence has been obtained through the use of applicable extradition treaties.- History :In Ker v...
. However, Judge Noonan wrote “that the abductors were law enforcement officers of the United States, rather than some fanatic band, doubles the horror of their activity. If agents of the mightiest power on earth are unrestrained from kidnapping by legal authority -- or rather, in obedience to higher authority in the executive department, see themselves constrained to kidnap -- the freedom of individuals throughout the world is at the mercy of a decision made by an official of the United States Department of Justice."
Similarly, Matta's abduction was followed by that of Mexican Humberto Alvarez Machain
Humberto Álvarez Machaín
United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which held that the fact of respondent's forcible abduction does not prohibit his trial in a United States court for violations of this country's criminal laws. It re-confirmed the Ker-Frisbie...
accused of complicity, like Matta, in the Camarena case. Machain fought his case on the illegality of the abduction; he won and was returned to Mexico.
Like other notable players in the Camarena case, like Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero
Rafael Caro Quintero is an incarcerated Mexican drug lord born in La Noria, Badiraguato, Sinaloa. Quintero was a co-founder, with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, of the Guadalajara Cartel and Sonora Cartel. Upon of the cartels' disintegration, its leaders were incorporated mostly into the Tijuana...
, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo is a convicted Mexican drug lord known as "El Padrino" who in the 1980s formed the Guadalajara Cartel and became the first drug czar in Mexico to control all illegal drug traffic in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico-U.S.A...
before him, Matta was eventually convicted as one of the masterminds behind the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. DEA Agent Enrique Camarena
Enrique Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico July 26, 1947 - c. (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, February 9, 1985) was an undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration who was abducted on...
in Guadalajara, Mexico. Further, Matta was later convicted for operating an importation and cocaine distribution ring into Van Nuys, California.
Matta is serving 12 life sentences in the ADX Florence
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
Super Maximum Security Penitentiary located outside of Pueblo in Florence, Colorado.