SALINAS' BROTHER PLAYED KEY ROLE IN TRAFFICKING, SWISS PROBE SAYS

New York-Swiss investigators have concluded that the brother of former
Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari played a key role in Mexico's
cocaine trade and the flow of drugs into the United States, The New York
Times reported yesterday.

Raul Salinas, a food-distribution official in his brother's administration,
controlled "practically all drug shipments through mexico," Swiss police
concluded. That control began in 1988 when Carlos Salinas became president.

The report claims Raul Salinas took approximately $500 million in bribes to
protect the drug trade into the United States, even commandeering
government cars for cocaine shipments. It also said he funneled drug money
into his brother's campaign.

The report, denounced as false and slanderous by Raul Salinas' attorneys,
follows a three-year inquiry by Swiss investigators into drug corruption in
Mexico. It will be used in a civil action by the Swiss government to
confiscate $130 million Raul Salinas deposited in Swiss bank accounts, the
Times reported.

Raul Salinas has been in prison for more than three years.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson