Isle drug-murder case
could rile Mexico

Two Mexican nationals could face
death under federal prosecution

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Prosecution of a Big Island drug-related murder case has taken on a new look that could widen the rift between Mexico and the United States over capital punishment.

Mexican nationals Francisco Davalos, 19, and Hector Lopez, 18, were indicted yesterday on federal charges of conspiring to distribute black-tar heroin and using a firearm to commit murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Arturo and Armando Renteria-Hernandez in July.

Federal -- rather than state -- prosecution of the case makes Davalos and Lopez eligible for the death penalty, a move that will surely attract the attention of the Mexican government.

Mexico, which abolished the death penalty in 1929, contends that Mexican citizens convicted of capital murder in the United States should not be executed since Americans are not put to death for similar crimes across the border.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that of 59 foreign nationals currently on death rows in the U.S., 34 are citizens of Mexico, including 11 in Texas.

The dispute is an emotional time bomb in Mexico.

Last summer, Mexicans issued death threats and American tourists were warned to stay away from the border town of Matamoros as the body of Irineo Tristan Montoya was brought into Mexico, the Times report said.

People lined a 500-mile stretch of roadway to Tampico to mourn Montoya, convicted in the stabbing death of a Texas man who had given him a ride near the Texas-Mexico border.

Although the suspects and victims in the Big Island case are Mexican nationals, the case will be tried in U.S. District Court.

If convicted, Davalos and Lopez could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. It'll be U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's call on whether to seek the death penalty in this case, says U.S. Attorney Steven Alm.

Big Island Prosecutor Jay Kimura said the cost of a long trial, which would require hiring interpreters, and the harsher federal penalties were factors in his decision to turn the case over.

"Death or life without parole is a significant deterrent," said Alm, who will recommend a course of action to Reno after reviewing all the facts in the case.

The indictment says Arturo Renteria-Hernandez used couriers to transport five- to seven-ounce quantities of black-tar heroin to Hawaii from Los Angeles and other locations.

A local "boss" packaged the black-tar heroin into small, colored balloons that were wrapped tight into small balls. The weight amounts were determined by color. The packages were then distributed by runners.

Local bosses and runners were replaced about every three months.

Davalos was sent by Renteria-Hernandez to the Big Island in September 1995 and delivered heroin on a daily basis for 22 months, earning sometimes as much as $7,000 a day. Lopez came to the Big Island in the first half of this year and became a runner.

Davalos and Lopez were both being supervised by Arturo's younger brother, Armando, who became the organization's local boss in late spring early summer, the indictment says. On July 17, two days after a courier turned over a shipment of black-tar heroin to Armando, Davalos allegedly shot Arturo Renteria-Hernandez at his Mauna Loa Estates home near Volcano in a dispute over money and control of the organization.

Davalos and Lopez forced Armando Renteria-Hernandez to tell them where the recently received shipment of black-tar heroin was being kept. Lopez then allegedly shot Armando.