MEXICO ARRESTS NINE ELITE SOLDIERS ON DRUG CHARGES

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least nine members of an elite military team
have been arrested for alleged ties to a gang based at Mexico City's
airport that smuggled drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States,
police sources said Thursday.

Those arrested, all members of the Mexican military's Special Armed Forces
Group (GAFE), are being held in a hotel in the capital, sources close to
the investigation told Reuters.

A statement from the Attorney General's Office late Wednesday said nine men
employed by the office on anti-drug duty had been placed under 30-day house
arrest.

The statement, which did not describe those involved as members of the
military, said the men had links with ''polleros'' -- criminals who traffic
in illegal Central American immigrants.

The office said the nine arrested were probably also involved in other
criminal activities.

Police sources investigating the gang at Mexico City's Benito Juarez
airport, however, said those detained were soldiers and all were suspected
of being involved in smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants into the United
States.

Two others thought to be involved in the ring had fled, they added.

The sources, who asked not to be named, said the official investigation was
sparked by an anonymous tip received by the director of Mexico's federal
judicial police, Guillermo Alvarez.

The elite soldiers had been working at the capital's airport for almost two
years, replacing agents of the Attorney General's Office who who had been
removed after being accused of corruption.

The newspaper El Universal said Thursday 20 soldiers had been arrested in
the case, including some captains and majors, and another 60 were removed
from the special group at the airport Tuesday.

The paper said the 20 soldiers were arrested in possession of 550 pounds of
drugs -- it did not say of what sort -- while trying to gain passage on a
flight to the United States for 120 illegal immigrants from Honduras, El
Salvador and Guatemala.

Members of the Attorney General's Office told Reuters they had no details
about the investigation but did not deny the newspaper report.

Two Mexican army generals, one of them the country's chief anti-drug
official, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, and other officers were arrested in
1997 on charges of protecting and receiving bribes from powerful drug cartels.

^REUTERS@

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski