MEXICO ACCUSES GENERAL, 2 TOP AIDES OF PROTECTING DRUG CARTEL

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's military prosecutor has announced the arrest
of a brigadier general, a captain and a lieutenant on charges of having
provided protection for drug traffickers of the former Gulf cartel.

President Vicente Fox called the arrests proof of Mexico's commitment to
fighting drugs, during a speech in Colombia, where he discussed drug
trafficking and other topics with Colombian President Andres Pastrana.

"Actions like this one, in which a general was arrested . . . are the kind
that generate confidence, and we will continue with them," Fox said.

The officers were arrested at their bases in the Gulf Coast state of
Tamaulipas, local media reported yesterday.

They will face charges of drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession
within the military justice system.

The arrests, which occurred late Wednesday, followed by one week a major
raid against the remnants of the Gulf cartel in Tamaulipas that netted 19
suspects and more than 20 tons of marijuana.

The arrest of the officers was apparently related to that first raid.

In announcing that first round of arrests, Martha Sahagun, spokeswoman for
President Vicente Fox, had said "we do not rule the possibility that army
officers or civilians might have been involved with the group."

Fox, like his predecessors, has entrusted much of the fight against
trafficking to the Mexican army or military officers on loan to civilian
police agencies.

Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, himself a former military
prosecutor, denied that the arrests might hurt the army's morale and image.
"I think it is strengthened when decisions like this are taken," he said.

Prosecutors said they became suspicious of the army officers after
Tamaulipas police reported that army personnel frequently made raids there
- -- but never arrested anyone nor seized many drugs.

One of those arrested was Gen. Ricardo Martinez, who commanded the 21st
Motorized Cavalry Regiment based in Nuevo Laredo, on the U.S. border. His
closest aides, Capt. Pedro Maya and Lt. Javier Quevedo, were also arrested.

They were taken to a jail at a military base in Mexico City, pending a
formal arraignment and possible military courts martial.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment.

In August, two senior generals allegedly linked to another border cartel,
the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix gang, were arrested on similar charges.

Those cases have become the Mexican military's biggest scandal since the
1997 arrest of Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, who headed Mexico's anti-drug
efforts, on charges of protecting traffickers.

The Tamaulipas arrests mark the first major successes for the
administration of President Vicente Fox in the fight against drug trafficking.

In March, police arrested several lower-ranking members of the Arellano
Felix cartel.

Fox, who has vowed to wage a war against traffickers, was embarrassed soon
after he took office Dec. 1 by the escape of alleged drug lord Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman from a maximum security prison.

The Gulf cartel -- whose name comes from Mexico's northern Gulf coast,
where it is most active -- was reportedly revived by reputed drug lord
Osiel Cardenas after its founder, Juan Garcia Abrego, was arrested and
extradited to the United States in 1996.

Quevedo was also accused of having a store of arms.