SWISS prosecutors investigating the frozen funds of Raul Salinas de Gortari, the jailed brother of Mexico's former President, say they have linked him to the smuggling of "40 to 50 tons" of cocaine to the United States.

According to a letter leaked to the Miami Herald , the Swiss believe Salinas, the brother of Carlos Salinas Mexican President from 1988 to 1994 "received enormous amounts of money for his help in connection to drug trafficking". The letter, from Carla del Ponte, the Swiss AttorneyGeneral, to her Mexican counterpart, is the first official indication of a drug connection to Mexico's former first family. If proven, the allegations would be highly embarrassing to Citibank, which handled the Salinas accounts, and would also confirm widespread suspicions of highlevel drug corruption in Mexico.

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