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Humberto Álvarez Machaín is a Mexican physician from Guadalajara, Mexico, who was accused of aiding in the torture and killing of the American Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Enrique Camarena Salazar, in February 1985. Alvarez is a resident and citizen of Mexico.
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Abduction
A federal prosecutor in Los Angeles confirmed that Alvarez had been captured in Mexico by bounty hunters seeking a reward offered by the United States Government, giving rise to concerns over the legality of his abduction. However, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration continues to deny news reports that it had offered a reward of as much as $100,000 for the capture of Alvarez.
Trial
Alvarez was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, California, in 1990 for alleged complicity in the kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique Camarena-Salazar and his Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala-Avelar in Guadalajara, Mexico in February 1985. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a warrant for Alvarez's arrest after his indictment.
Repatriation
Alvarez was tried for Camarena's kidnapping, torture and murder in 1992. After the presentation of the government's case, the district court judge granted Alvarez's motion for judgment of acquittal on the ground of insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict. The district court specifically concluded the government's case was based on "suspicion and hunches, but no proof," and the theory of the prosecution's case was "whole cloth, the wildest speculation." As a result, Alvarez was repatriated to Mexico.
Alvarez sues the United States
In 1993, Alvarez initiated a civil action in the United States District Court for the Central District of California alleging numerous constitutional and tort claims arising from his abduction, detention and trial. Sosa, Garate, five unnamed Mexican nationals, the United States and four DEA agents were listed as defendants. The district court ruled in favor of Alvarez in the amount of $25,000 and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Sosa's liability on appeal.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari (a review) on December 1, 2003, to determine the issue of whether Alvarez was entitled to remedy pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute. The Supreme Court held that an illegal detention of a single day did not constitute a sufficient harm for relief.