MEXICAN GENERALS LINKED TO JUAREZ DRUG CARTEL

Six generals and other members of the Mexican military are part of the huge
Juarez drug cartel, it was reported yesterday.

La Jornada made the claims as FBI agents and 600 Mexican soldiers continued
searching mass graves holding as many as 100 victims of the cartel at
Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. The newspaper said the
information about military corruption came from a confidential report by the
United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mexican
attorney-general's office.

The report claimed that the Juarez cartel, one of the most powerful in the
world, controlling half of all the cocaine smuggled into America, had
infiltrated the armed forces to ensure that its operations continued
unhindered. The DEA file was said to show that the cartel was made up of 400
"regional and state cells", 45 of which were headed by members of the armed
forces, who included six generals.

The cartel was said to be divided into branches, and the branch dealing with
security was believed to be controlled by the Mexican military. The report
said drug shipments had been successful for more than 20 years because none
of the cartel's leading figures had been captured. The cartel was said to
have bribed a number of senior police officials and members of the country's
judicial system.

Last week the remains of six bodies were found at one of the four sites in
northern Mexico being excavated by the FBI. Almost 200 people have been
reported missing in Juarez since the death in 1997 of Amado Fuentes, the
head of the cartel. His death started a violent battle for control of the
drug trade. It is believed that there could be more mass graves elsewhere in
Mexico.