Pubdate: Sat, 02 Nov 2002
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Note: From Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

GENERALS GUILTY IN MEXICO DRUG CASE

MEXICO CITY -- A military court Friday convicted two generals of aiding 
drug smugglers, concluding a high-profile case aimed at cracking down on 
Mexico's drug trade.

The five-general panel convicted Gen. Francisco Quiros and Brig. Gen. 
Arturo Acosta of protecting cocaine and marijuana shipments for drug lord 
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died in 1997 after undergoing plastic surgery.

It sentenced Quiros to 16 years in prison and Acosta to 15. They have 
already served two years. The court cleared the men of another charge of 
criminal association.

Prosecutors accused the generals of protecting drug smugglers and using 
military airplanes to transport shipments of cocaine and marijuana. Quiros 
was also found guilty of taking bribes from Carrillo Fuentes, who was 
Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker in the mid-1990s. The panel ordered 
two cars and other goods confiscated.

The men were stripped of their ranks and their military decorations.

Attorneys for the two said they would appeal.

The officers also face separate charges in the deaths of 130 leftist 
activists in the 1970s.
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