U.S. REPORTEDLY CLOSED CASH-LAUNDERING PROBE THAT IMPLICATED OFFICIAL

MEXICO - Foreign policy concerns may have led Clinton administration
officials to end an investigation into the movement of money by drug
traffickers in Mexico, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Early last year, as undercover U.S. Customs agents posing as money
launderers from Colombia neared the end of an undercover
investigation, bankers for Mexico's largest cocaine cartel said they
needed to launder another $1.15 billion for clients who, they said,
included Mexico's Defense Minister, Gen. Enrique Cervantes, The Times
said.

Before agents could determine whether the money existed or if any of
it belonged to Cervantes, U.S. officials ordered the operations shut
down as scheduled several weeks later. No further effort was made to
investigate the offer, The Times said.

"Why are we sitting on this kind of information?" asked the former
senior customs agent who led the undercover investigation, William F.
Gately. "It's either because we're lazy, we're stupid, or the
political will doesn't exist to engage in the kind of investigation
where our law-enforcement efforts might damage our foreign policy."

Administration officials denied that foreign policy influenced their
decision, saying it was based primarily on security concerns. They
also emphasized that agents never verified the traffickers' claims.
The administration bases much of its Mexican drug strategy on
collaboration with Cervantes. Administration officials said they
believe he is above reproach.