FUGITIVE FORMER GOVERNOR OF MEXICAN STATE CHARGED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING

MEXICO CITY - A fugitive former state governor in Mexico has been
charged with drug trafficking and organized crime, prosecutors said.

Yesterday's announcement came a day after Mario Villanueva left office
and nine days after he dropped out of sight. Prosecutors denied they
delayed the criminal case to avoid charging and impeaching a sitting
governor, something that has never been done in Mexico.

But Villanueva said in a letter published yesterday by Mexican
newspapers that the case was politically motivated.

"Harassed by an investigation aimed at incriminating me at any cost
with the trafficking and use of drugs . . . I have abandoned my turf
to avoid being jailed," Villanueva wrote.

His lawyer, Juan Collado, confirmed Villanueva had written the letter,
the daily Reforma newspaper said. The former governor did not reveal
his whereabouts.

The warrant and charges against Villanueva and five alleged
accomplices cap a long-running scandal in the Caribbean coast state of
Quintana Roo, which U.S. and Mexican officials say has become a relay
point for Colombian cocaine entering the United States.

Villanueva claimed the accusations he worked with drug traffickers
were "absurd and ridiculous," saying that as governor he had no
opportunity to protect drug traffickers from federal authorities. He
said the charges were politically motivated because he opposed efforts
by national leaders of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party to
control Quintana Roo's state government.

The attorney general's office had no comment yesterday.

Prosecutors have asked Interpol and "other police agencies" to help in
the search for Villanueva, indicating they believe he may have fled
the country. U.S. authorities, including the Drug Enforcement
Administration, have joined Mexican police in the search.

Media reports have suggested Villanueva may have fled to Panama, where
he has business contacts.

Villanueva's successor, Joaquin Hendricks Diaz, said yesterday that
the attorney general's office had every right to investigate the
former governor and that the new state administration would cooperate
by providing information about the case, the government news agency
Notimex reported.