MEXICAN LAW OFFICIALS FACE CORRUPTION CHARGES

JUAREZ -- The top federal law enforcement officials assigned to Chihuahua
state and 15 agents under them have been arrested on charges of corruption
by the nation's new Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha.

Officials said the federal attorney general's Chihuahua district director,
Norberto J. Suarez Gomez, and deputy director, Jose M. Diaz Perez, were in
custody Wednesday in connection with the alleged sale of positions within
the attorney general's office.

The posts to which Suarez and Diaz were assigned are the U.S. equivalent of
FBI district director and assistant director. They also served on the
Border Liaison Mechanism, which includes law enforcement officials from the
El Paso-Juarez region.

It has been speculated that some top law enforcement positions in Mexico
were treated like franchises to be sold and bought by the highest bidders.
However, this is the first time border officials have been charged with
selling a federal post. The posts are coveted because they can lead to
lucrative partnerships with organized crime or access to valuable
contraband, authorities have said.

"This is a positive sign on the part of the Vicente Fox administration,"
said Richard Schwein, former special agent in charge of the El Paso FBI
office. "The question is whether the authorities can be successful and make
the charges stick."

Mexican President Vicente Fox, who took control Dec. 1, promised during his
campaign to crack down on corruption by officials.

In a statement, Mexican authorities said Suarez and Diaz were detained Dec.
30 "behind the attorney general's office (in Mexico City) where (Suarez)
was to meet (Diaz) to give him $500,000 so that (Diaz) could get a
different position."

Authorities said Suarez told Diaz that the money was intended for Alfonso
Navarrete Prida, the national deputy attorney general in Mexico City
overseeing general coordination and development. Navarrete and Suarez
denied the allegations.

Authorities said Diaz cooperated in the investigation but was denied
witness-protection status "because he would not say where the money came from."

Although Mexican federal authorities oversee most drug-related
investigations, federal officials have not solved any of the hundreds of
drug executions and abductions in Juarez attributed to the Carrillo Fuentes
drug organization. They also have not arrested any major drug dealers since
Gilberto "El Grenas" Ontiveros Lucero was jailed in 1989.