Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - Errol Chavez, 61, a candidate for state auditor in the most recent election and a longtime law-enforcement officer, died Sunday night following a battle with brain cancer.
Chavez, a Republican who was born in Los Alamos and lived in Las Cruces, was honored Monday by the New Mexico state Senate with a moment of silence at the request of Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle.
According to the Santa Fe Federated Republican Women, Chavez was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in October while he was on the campaign trail in the state auditor race.
In January of 2010, when state GOP Chairman Harvey Yates, Jr. announced his recruitment of Chavez to run for New Mexico state auditor, he said, "While Errol's talents and commitment to New Mexico would be well utilized in many areas of public service, I believe that his extensive investigative and administrative experience uniquely qualify him to serve as the state's next auditor."
During his 31-year tenure at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Chavez conducted money laundering investigations; directed the administration's policy implementation in Europe, Latin America and the United States; and supervised several hundred agents in various assignments.
After retiring from the DEA, Chavez became the executive director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federal drug-prohibition enforcement program. In this position, Chavez was responsible for administering and auditing $11 million of
Chavez was president of both the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association and the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association, an international law enforcement organization with 12,000 members.
He began his career with the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office as a patrolman in 1970. He later joined the federal government's Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the predecessor agency for the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he served for 31 years. The last nine years of his career with DEA was in the Senior Executive Service as the special agent in charge of the San Diego Field Division and the Phoenix Field Division.
After he retired from the DEA, he relocated to Las Cruces in 2004 as the director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area for New Mexico. In 2006, Chavez accepted a position with LaserShield Security Syste as the executive vice president for international affairs, located in Las Cruces.
As a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, he received several awards for his performance while assigned to foreign and domestic DEA offices. These awards were for overt and covert investigations he successfully completed, and intelligence programs he developed on major domestic and international criminal organizations.
