| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2008 
5 Mexican Military Members Linked to Drug Cartel
 E. Eduardo Castillo - Associated Press
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| | Eduardo Arellano Felix, one of the alleged leaders of the notorious Arellano Felix drug trafficking cartel, who was arrested earlier this week. Mexican authorities have been holding 35 officials since July for selling intelligence to drug cartels, for payments of up to $400,000, the federal prosecutor have revealed. (AFP/Ho) | | |
Mexico City — Four Mexican military officers and one soldier are under investigation for alleged links to one of the country's most powerful drug cartels, Mexico's Defense Department said Friday.
The investigation capped a week of corruption scandals that have arisen from the January arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a reputed top lieutenant in the Sinaloa drug cartel believed to have penetrated many of Mexico's security agencies.
The Defense Department said in the statement that Beltran Leyva's arrest led authorities to investigate the five military members. They were all turned over to prosecutors on Jan. 29, but their cases weren't made public until Friday.
Officials would give no more details on their cases.
On Monday, officials in the federal Attorney General's office said five authorities in the organized crime unit had been arrested for informing the Beltran Leyva cartel and a spy inside the U.S. Embassy may have been handing over details of DEA operations.
On Thursday, Reforma newspaper reported that, with Beltran Leyva's arrest, officials had found a list of military members who were allegedly being paid to work for the drug lord.
Mexican authorities refused to comment on that report, or say it if was related to Friday's revelation.
The corruption scandals are the most serious known infiltration of anti-crime agencies since the 1997 arrest of Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, then head of Mexico's anti-drug agency. Gutierrez Rebollo was later convicted of aiding drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
President Felipe Calderon has long acknowledged that corruption is a problem among the federal police and soldiers charged with leading Mexico's anti-drug campaign, but this week's announcements were nonetheless a major blow to his nationwide campaign to take back territory controlled by cartels. |
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