Pubdate: Mon,  4 Sep 2000
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2000 El Paso Times
Contact:  P.O.Box 20, El Paso, Texas 79999
Fax: (915) 546-6415
Website:  http://www.borderlandnews.com/
Author: Diana Washington Valdez
Note: Diana Washington Valdez May Be Reached At 546-6140 Or At  additional articles on Mexico are available at 
http://www.mapinc.org/mexico.htm

7 GENERALS NOW ACCUSED IN MEXICO'S WAR ON DRUGS

With last week's arrests of Gens. Mario Acosta Chaparro and Francisco 
Quiroz Hermosillo, Mexico has arrested a total of seven generals on 
suspicion of drug-related corruption.

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of 
Congress, five of Mexico's military generals were arrested in the late 
1990s, just as the country had agreed to give its military an expanded role 
in the "war against drugs."

In 1995, the U.S. defense secretary visited Mexico to strengthen "the 
military-to-military relationship" within the context of drug interdiction, 
the GAO said. The U.S. Defense Department gave Mexico more than $70 million 
in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 for equipment.

War On Drugs

U.S. foreign policy leaders thought using the military would help Mexico 
counter the corruption of its civilian law-enforcement agencies, Matthew 
Yarrow wrote for American Friends Services Committee in a report titled 
"Still Pulling Strings: The U.S. Military in Latin America after the Cold War."

Instead, it appears the drug lords began bribing high-ranking military 
officials with their formidable assets, just as they had bribed judges, 
prosecutors and law officials.

Despite pledges for bilateral cooperation, the GAO noted that Mexico had 
yet to extradite to the United States any Mexican national who was a major 
drug trafficker. Further, the flow of drugs into the United States through 
Mexico continues without much of a dent, the GAO report said.

The Generals

Acosta is a native of Chihuahua state. He and Quiroz specialized in 
counterintelligence. Both enjoyed brilliant careers as specialized crime 
fighters and intelligence experts. They became famous while serving on a 
special task force to rescue Ruben Figueroa, the governor of Guerrero state 
who was kidnapped in the 1970s.

In 1990, Chacon published a book called "Mexico's Subversive Movements" 
that drew upon on his experience in operations against dissident movements.

Authorities said Chacon's name surfaced recently in connection with the 
"mass graves" investigation in Juarez. No one has been charged in the 
deaths of nine people (including four El Pasoans) who were found in the 
clandestine graves in late 1999. Investigators said the dead were victims 
of the Carrillo Fuentes group. The cartel grew deep roots in Chihuahua 
state during the 1990s.

The depositions are part of what is known in Mexican federal law 
enforcement as the "macro or maxi proceso," a voluminous document that 
serves as an arrest warrant for numerous suspects with alleged ties to drug 
dealers.

The warrant was mentioned at a June 8 hearing for Lucio Cano Barraza, a 
Juarez lawyer who was arrested at his West El Paso home on Mexican charges 
of drug smuggling and money laundering. An extradition hearing for Cano, 
who denies the allegations, is scheduled for Sept. 21 in El Paso's U.S. 
district court. 
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