The Region - News from Sept. 2, 1987

A federal judge in San Diego has dismissed a $110-million civil rights lawsuit filed by Rene Martin Verdugo, an accused drug smuggler who contends that U.S. authorities conspired with Mexican police to kidnap him and deliver him across the international border because of his supposed knowledge about the slaying of drug agent Enrique S. Camarena in 1985. Chief U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson ruled that U.S. law enforcement agents acted within proper bounds in arresting Verdugo, and thus were guaranteed immunity from civil suits. Thompson also ruled that Verdugo and his lawyers had failed to establish a legal basis for suing the Mexican policemen who allegedly assisted in his abduction.