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Retiree faces drug charges for Valium
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 2, 2001
TIJUANA -- An 81-year-old American retiree who crossed the border to buy Valium now faces federal drug-trafficking charges from behind bars at La Mesa State Penitentiary.
George Paul Murl, a former Navy diver, says he suffers from multiple medical problems, including prostate cancer. He has been in custody since May 24, when Tijuana municipal police arrested him at Pueblo Amigo shopping center near the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the Tijuana police report, officers searched Murl after noticing a "suspicious attitude" when they saw him in the parking lot. They said they found a black bag containing 600 Valium pills in his front pocket.
Tijuana police spokesman Lorenzo Garibay said Murl was arrested because he didn't have a prescription for the Valium, which is a controlled substance in Mexico, as it is in the United States.
After his arrest, Murl spent nearly four days at a downtown Tijuana jail known as La Ocho.
"It's like the Middle Ages," said Murl, from behind bars at La Mesa, where he was transferred Monday.
At La Ocho, Murl said he shared a cell with 30 other men and was forced to stand for 12-hour stretches.
At La Mesa, Murl has been embraced by a community of close to 50 U.S. prisoners, said David Walden, a San Diego minister who visits the U.S. prisoners being held at La Mesa. They have found him a bed and are making sure he is cared for as well as possible in the overcrowded prison.
He's on a hunger strike to protest the treatment he first received at La Ocho. "George is safe now, but he's extremely ill," Walden said.
Murl is a World War II veteran who crossed the border to Tijuana like many other Americans on fixed incomes, drawn by the lower prices of pharmaceuticals, Walden said.
"He was not trafficking in drugs," said Walden, who has met with Murl at the prison. "The Valium helps because he's in pain."
Walden said Murl was carrying with him an old prescription for Valium from a Mexican doctor.
Federal law in Mexico allows Valium to be sold only through a one-time prescription bearing the seal of the state health department. The prescription must be turned in at the time of purchase, said Dr. Alfonso Gruel, who oversees pharmacies for the health department.
But some pharmacies are able to tap into a black-market supply of Valium and other controlled medicines, then turn around and sell them without prescriptions.
Murl's 91-year-old sister, Grace Hawley, said he suffers from a range of medical problems, including prostate cancer, diverticulitis and stomach trouble. He was scheduled for treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital, she said.
"He is a very sick man, and he needs medicine right now," said Rose Burgess, his ex-wife, who lives in Oxnard. "If he doesn't get out, he can die."
The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana is following the case and has visited Murl at the prison, said spokesman Clint Wright.
Wright said a judge could take up to several months to decide whether to release Murl or keep him behind bars.
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 2, 2001
TIJUANA -- An 81-year-old American retiree who crossed the border to buy Valium now faces federal drug-trafficking charges from behind bars at La Mesa State Penitentiary.
George Paul Murl, a former Navy diver, says he suffers from multiple medical problems, including prostate cancer. He has been in custody since May 24, when Tijuana municipal police arrested him at Pueblo Amigo shopping center near the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the Tijuana police report, officers searched Murl after noticing a "suspicious attitude" when they saw him in the parking lot. They said they found a black bag containing 600 Valium pills in his front pocket.
Tijuana police spokesman Lorenzo Garibay said Murl was arrested because he didn't have a prescription for the Valium, which is a controlled substance in Mexico, as it is in the United States.
After his arrest, Murl spent nearly four days at a downtown Tijuana jail known as La Ocho.
"It's like the Middle Ages," said Murl, from behind bars at La Mesa, where he was transferred Monday.
At La Ocho, Murl said he shared a cell with 30 other men and was forced to stand for 12-hour stretches.
At La Mesa, Murl has been embraced by a community of close to 50 U.S. prisoners, said David Walden, a San Diego minister who visits the U.S. prisoners being held at La Mesa. They have found him a bed and are making sure he is cared for as well as possible in the overcrowded prison.
He's on a hunger strike to protest the treatment he first received at La Ocho. "George is safe now, but he's extremely ill," Walden said.
Murl is a World War II veteran who crossed the border to Tijuana like many other Americans on fixed incomes, drawn by the lower prices of pharmaceuticals, Walden said.
"He was not trafficking in drugs," said Walden, who has met with Murl at the prison. "The Valium helps because he's in pain."
Walden said Murl was carrying with him an old prescription for Valium from a Mexican doctor.
Federal law in Mexico allows Valium to be sold only through a one-time prescription bearing the seal of the state health department. The prescription must be turned in at the time of purchase, said Dr. Alfonso Gruel, who oversees pharmacies for the health department.
But some pharmacies are able to tap into a black-market supply of Valium and other controlled medicines, then turn around and sell them without prescriptions.
Murl's 91-year-old sister, Grace Hawley, said he suffers from a range of medical problems, including prostate cancer, diverticulitis and stomach trouble. He was scheduled for treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital, she said.
"He is a very sick man, and he needs medicine right now," said Rose Burgess, his ex-wife, who lives in Oxnard. "If he doesn't get out, he can die."
The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana is following the case and has visited Murl at the prison, said spokesman Clint Wright.
Wright said a judge could take up to several months to decide whether to release Murl or keep him behind bars.
