Pubdate: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. Author: Saul Hudson PERU ARMY NO. 2 ARRESTED IN DRUG CASE, SOURCES SAY LIMA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The Peruvian army's second-in-command is under arrest, the highest-ranking soldier ever held during a narcotics probe in this major drug-smuggling nation, a lawyer and military sources said on Friday. They said Gen. Tomas Marky was detained early this month followed accusations by an army lieutenant -- himself in prison on drug-trafficking charges -- that the general failed in 1995 to inform authorities he had confiscated traffickers' suitcases believed to hold $1 million. Marky has denied the allegations, first made three years ago by Lt. Omar Zegarra while he was under the general's command. The general's lawyer declined to comment on reports of the arrest and army spokesmen were unavailable despite repeated calls requesting information on the case. Prison and military sources said an anti-drugs court ordered the general's arrest. They said they had no information of charges against him and it was unclear why Marky had been detained now, three years after the initial accusations. "The Second Court Specialising in Illegal Drug Trafficking has started proceedings (for a case involving Marky)," Zegarra's lawyer, Heriberto Benitez, told Reuters. The court declined to comment on the matter. Peru, the world's largest supplier of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, has been praised by the United States as a model drug-fighting nation. Previous arrests involving the military -- including a 1996 case when drugs were found aboard a presidential plane -- have been of middle- ranking or junior officers. "Never in Peru's history has there been a case of such a high ranking military official involved in a drug-trafficking or criminal case," said retired Gen. Jaime Salinas, head of the Latin American Institute of Military- Civilian Studies in Lima. Authorities put Marky in a common criminal prison in Lima's port of Callao but were expected to move him to an army jail for officers under investigation, military and prison sources said. "He is calm and comfortable. He is being treated as befits his rank," a prison source said. In 1995, Marky was in charge of patrolling a dangerous Andean region rife with guerrillas and drug-traffickers. Zegarra claims Marky supervised an army drugs bust and captured a small plane piloted by Colombians, who handed over suitcases that one trafficker said contained $1 million, Benitez said. Zegarra first made his accusations against Marky as a witness in the 1995 trial of the Colombians. Local media have periodically reported them since then as Zegarra maintained his story during a court case against him prompted by allegations made by Marky. The case against Zegarra ended with the lieutenant being sentenced last December to eight years in jail for drug-trafficking, Benitez said. Since 1995 Marky has climbed swiftly through the army ranks, becoming head of the key region around the second city of Arequipa before his January appointment as the army's second-in-command. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry