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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2008 
Feud Between Baja Prosecutor, Army General Goes Public
 Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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 |  | The Mexican military, previously limited to conducting roadside searches and drug eradication, has been taking an increasingly active role in fighting drug traffickers under President Felipe Calderon. |  | | | |
Tijuana – A simmering feud between Baja California's top prosecutor and an outspoken army general boiled over Wednesday as the general went public with allegations of police corruption in the state.
In an open letter published in the state's major daily newspapers, Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito named about three dozen municipal, state and federal police officials.
The general said they have been protecting immigrant smugglers, bank robbers, and worked as escorts for drug traffickers. He said agents with the state's anti-kidnapping unit in Tijuana had themselves conducted kidnappings, then negotiated the ransom.
The general said top Tijuana police officials with the previous mayoral administration – he did not name them – are constantly approaching the current police chief, a military lieutenant colonel on leave, offering to act as go-betweens with organized crime.
Aponte is commander of the Second Military Zone in Baja California, and his allegations come as the military has taken on a growing role in fighting organized crime. The general has previously accused police forces in the state of being infiltrated by organized crime. Wednesday's letter responded to a demand for proof by Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez.
In the state capital of Mexicali Wednesday, Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan stood behind his attorney general. Osuna said Aponte's allegations will be reviewed by the office of internal affairs in the Baja California prosecutor's office, as well as by the federal attorney general's office, which is responsible for prosecuting organized crime.
Under Osuna, who took office late last year, the state has been conducting extensive reviews of police forces, including the attorney general's office, and subjecting officers to background checks, drug tests and lie detector tests.
Moreno made no public comments Wednesday, but the head of the attorney general's office in Tijuana, Salvador Juan Ortiz Morales, told reporters some of the accused agents were no longer working with the state agency, while others had already been under internal review.
“Logically, we will be opening new investigations of those persons that we weren't aware of” who were named by Aponte, Ortiz said.
The general's allegations reveal the growing discord between the military and the state prosecutor's office at a time when both have pledged an unprecedented effort against organized crime.
The Mexican military, previously limited to conducting roadside searches and drug eradication, has been taking an increasingly active role in fighting drug traffickers under President Felipe Calderon.
Mexico's military is more trusted that civilian police forces that have been infiltrated by organized crime, but critics say it is not trained for an increasingly active role in arrests and drug seizures, and in some cases, suspects have been released for lack of evidence.
Sandra Dibble: sandra.dibble(at)uniontrib.com |
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