Pubdate: Sat, 26 May 2012
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Authors: Jose de Cardoba and David Luhnow

DRUG PROBE TARGETS MEXICAN ARMY

MEXICO CITY-The arrest of a former deputy defense minister and three
other retired and active high-ranking Mexican army officers on
suspicion of having been in the pay of a drug cartel is shaping up as
the biggest scandal to hit the army in years.

Last week, a judge issued preliminary detention orders for three
generals and a lieutenant colonel. The move allows prosecutors from
the organized-crime division of the Attorney General's Office to
question the men for up to 40 days before formal charges would need to
be filed.

Officials haven't said why the men are being held. But according to
the men's relatives, a person familiar with the legal proceedings and
media accounts citing unnamed sources in the Attorney General's
Office, the four are being questioned over allegations they were in
the pay of one of Mexico's leading organized crime groups, the Beltran
Leyva cartel.

"I regret and condemn that a few individual members [of the armed
forces], according to evidence found by the Attorney General's Office
and the military prosecutors, have taken part in illicit acts,"
President Felipe Calderon said this week. "The only thing that is
clear here is that my government won't tolerate illegal acts,
regardless of who commits them."

The scandal could turn out to be the biggest since 1997, when Mexico's
acting antidrug czar, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, was arrested and
sentenced to 40 years for working on behalf of late drug lord Amado
Carillo.

It is the biggest drug-related scandal since Mr. Calderon took office
in December 2006 and deployed roughly 45,000 soldiers to different
parts of the country to take on the drug gangs.

The highest-profile detainee is Gen. Tomas Angeles, whom Mr. Calderon
appointed the second-ranking official in the Defense Ministry in 2006.
Gen. Angeles served until he retired in 2008.

The detentions come just two months before presidential elections in
July, spurring speculation in Mexico's press and among many analysts
that the detentions may have to do with presidential or barracks politics.

Gen. Angeles, who served as Mexico's military attache in Washington,
was considered to be angling for a top security job if Enrique Pena
Nieto, the candidate of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary
Party, or PRI, wins the presidency.

Gen. Angeles, known for his acid comments about other generals,
including the current defense secretary, recently took part in a
security conference organized by the PRI. There, he criticized Mr.
Calderon's security policies as well as the army's actions in the drug
war. Mr. Pena Nieto, who also spoke at the conference, enjoys a
20-point lead in the polls over his rivals.

"Everything points to an internal military vendetta," according to a
top former government official.

Since Gen. Angeles's detention, Mr. Pena Nieto has distanced himself
from the retired general, saying he had "no personal relationship"
with him.

Relatives of the men say they are innocent. Leticia Zepeda, the wife
of Gen. Angeles, said her husband told her the accusations were
absolutely false. He also told her he wasn't allowed to see his lawyer
for a week after his detention, during which time she said he was
represented by a lawyer appointed by the Attorney General's Office.

Linking Gen. Angeles to a drug cartel makes little sense given his
ambitions of becoming secretary of defense, said Raul Benitez, a
security analyst at Mexico's National Autonomous University. Such
aspirations would have put the general in the position of being
closely watched by both U.S. and Mexican intelligence services, making
it likely that the general would have taken care not to associate with
drug traffickers, Mr. Benitez said.

"If you are ambitious, the last thing you do is mess with narcos," he
said. "It's suicide."

The arrests would be demoralizing for the military, which has been on
the front lines of Mr. Calderon's war against the cartels, Mr. Benitez
added. "Angeles is a very well-liked leader in the army," he said. "He
developed a lot of contacts with politicians, journalists, academics
and U.S. officials."

U.S. officials who work with Mexican on counternarcotics issues say
they haven't seen any information from their Mexican counterparts
about the matter, a break from past practices where Mexican and U.S.
officials share intelligence.

A U.S. official said he didn't think the U.S. government had anything
to do with the detentions. "It's not our doing, best as I can tell,"
the official said.

The Attorney General's Office, in an apparent response to widespread
press speculation, denied on May 17 the detentions were politically
motivated. "They have no political connotations or any relation to the
campaigns or the candidates in the election," it said in a statement.

The other military officers detained in Mexico were Gen. Ricardo
Escorcia, who retired in 2010 after having commanded a military region
with its base in Cuernavaca, a resort city south of Mexico City
considered to be Beltran Leyva territory; Brig. Gen. Roberto Dawe, an
active duty officer; and retired Lieutenant Colonel Silvio Hernandez.

Gen. Dawe, who had recently been part of President Calderon's security
detail, was at the time of his arrest in charge of a military zone
that includes the state of Colima, on Mexico's Pacific Coast. Speaking
to Mexican reporters, Guadalupe Garcia, the wife of Gen. Dawe, said
her husband had faithfully served his country only to have been
"abandoned" by the army.

The U.S.'s anti-narcotics cooperation with Mexico hadn't been
undermined by the officers' detention, said Lieut. Col. Robert
Ditchey, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense.

"It has not had any impact on DoD's counter-narcotics cooperation with
the Mexican military," Lt. Col Ditchey wrote in an email. "Our
relationship remains strong, and we are impressed by the courage and
bravery of the Mexican forces, both military and police."

Mexican media accounts, citing unnamed officials from the Attorney
General's office, say the four men are suspected of giving information
to the Beltran Leyva cartel.

According to a person familiar with the prosecution file against Gen.
Angeles, the accusations against him appear to be based on information
provided in 2010 depositions by a protected witness. This witness, a
former lawyer for the Beltran Leyva organization who became a
government informant, provided information for a 2008 investigation
that led to a purge of top officials at the Attorney General's office,
some of whom were imprisoned after they were found to be in the pay of
the Beltran Leyva gang.

In the deposition, this informant says that he gave $500,000 a month
to an army mayor to pass on to a "Gen. Dauahare"-Gen. Angeles's full
name is Angeles Dauahare-but never met with the general himself,
according to the person who has seen the file. The prosecutor's file
also has a statement from the army major who denies receiving any
money from the person.

The Beltran Leyva organization, founded by four brothers, was once
allied with the Sinaloa Cartel, whose chief, Joaquin "El Chapo"
Guzman, is considered Mexico's most powerful drug trafficker.

The groups split in 2008, after Alfredo Beltran Leyva was captured by
Mexican police and his brothers blamed the arrest on Mr. Guzman. The
Beltran Leyvas retaliated by killing one of Mr. Guzman's sons. The two
organizations have since fought a running battle that has cost the
lives of hundreds of people and hobbled the Beltran Leyva
organization.

Arturo Beltran Leyva, the cartel capo, was gunned down by Mexican
marines in Cuernavaca in 2009. A leaked U.S. Embassy diplomatic cable
said the marines were asked to find the kingpin after the Mexican army
appeared to be slow in responding to U.S. intelligence about Mr.
Beltran Leyva's location.

The arrest of the military men isn't the only case of suspected
drug-related corruption to rock Mexico this week. Prosecutors in
McAllen, Texas, alleged in two forfeiture cases that former PRI
governor of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington, invested millions of dollars
obtained from drug cartels into properties in Texas. In one case,
prosecutors alleged, the property was purchased in the name of a frontman.

No criminal actions have been filed against Mr. Yarrington. "The
allegations and rumors against him are just false," his lawyer, Joel
Androphy said. Mr. Androphy has told reporters that Mr. Yarrington is
innocent of the allegations and had no connection to the properties,
he said.

Luis Videgaray, Mr. Pena Nieto's campaign manager, told Mexican
reporters the PRI condemned the alleged corruption and urged Mr.
Yarrington to face the allegations in court. The party is considering
suspending Mr. Yarrington. 
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