QUESTIONS ABOUND OVER FATE OF SEIZED DRUG MONEY

MEXICO CITY -- Show me the money.

That's a common sentiment among some Mexicans six weeks after federal
agents carted away a record $205 million in cash seized as drug money.

Given this nation's history of corruption and the average person's
distrust of anybody official, from beat cops to the president, there
is skepticism.

"They are going to steal it," declared Irene Huelta, 65, a retiree who
works part-time at a grocery store. "They say they will use it for
something good, but I do not believe it."

Others shared similar opinions.

"It will not be spent the way they say, and then they will pretend
they did not know what was going on," said Mauricio Reyes, 22, an
economics student.

The public's last glimpse of the cash was in March, in photos released
by the Mexican government showing the currency -- most of it in U.S.
$100 bills -- stacked in the upscale Mexico City residence where it
was found during a methamphetamine bust.

"Whenever the government does something in Mexico, people are
automatically suspicious," said Fabrice Lehoucq, a Mexico City
political analyst.

"They have gotten 70 years of pretty rotten government. Things are
slowly getting better, but there is still a lot more that needs to
change," he said.

There has been talk that the windfall, believed to be the largest cash
seizure ever by any law enforcement agency in the world, should be
used to bolster public education and welfare programs.

But the administration of President Felipe Calderon has said that not
a single peso will be spent until a criminal investigation is complete
- -- a process that could take years.

"I can say today that we will use no less than one third of this money
for the prevention and treatment of addictions," Calderon said in April.

In the meantime, the government seemed to be trying to quell concerns
by publishing a letter this week describing how the money is being
handled.

The cash was held by the army's bank, Banjercito, the letter stated,
then sent to Bank of America, where it is now being "authenticated," a
process that could take another month. Bank of America declined
comment Friday.

The statement didn't say if the money is earning interest. Even in a
standard savings account -- which would be unheard of for such an
amount -- the yield would be staggering.

For example, Wells Fargo bank in Texas advertises a preferred-rate
savings account with an interest rate of 3.9 percent on amounts above
$100,000.

Based on that, the $205 million would make about $22,000 a day in
interest, or in the neighborhood of $8 million a year.

That would produce even more money to be tracked. And folks would have
to take the government's word on exactly how much more.

Armando Barreiro, a Mexican federal congressman, said there should be
clearer laws regarding what the federal government can do with seized
money -- and for that matter, furniture, cars, or anything else
confiscated by the government.

"Of course we do not trust things. Seized money has no clear
destination," said Barreiro, of the Democratic Revolution Party, a
rival of Calderon's National Action Party.

Elvira Juarez, 40, a saleswoman, said she believes the money will stay
in government coffers and most likely be used for pay raises and
retirement funds, legitimate or otherwise.

"What they need to do with it is send it to Piedras Negras, Coahuila,"
she said of the Texas-Mexico border city thrashed by a tornado late
last month. "It is needed there."