Pubdate: Tue, 22 Oct 2002
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2002 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390

CIVIL SERVANTS ACCUSED OF HELPING DRUG LORDS

Mexican officials said Monday they had arrested 25 people who infiltrated 
the army, the federal police and the attorney general's office on behalf of 
some of the nation's most powerful drug kingpins.

The arrests were the first such case under President Vicente Fox. They 
suggest that despite the recent jailing of leading figures from every one 
of the nation's major drug gangs, the cartels retain the money and the 
power to corrupt Mexico's government.

The attorney general, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, said "corrupt public 
servants" were at the heart of a network that had been stealing secrets 
from the government and selling them to the drug cartels since 1996.
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