FORMER MEXICAN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL LINKED TO DRUG TRAFFICKING

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican prosecutors have received new testimony linking
a former assistant attorney general to drug trafficking, local media
reported Sunday.

The testimony by members of the Gulf and Juarez drug cartels against Mario
Ruiz Massieu may help win his extradition from the United States, where he
has been under arrest since he fled Mexico in 1995.

Ruiz Massieu allegedly received large payments from drug traffickers to
provide protection for their cocaine shipments through Mexico, according to
prosecutors quoted by the daily newspaper El Universal.

A former Mexican police director testified before a Houston grand jury that
he collected nearly $2 million in payoffs in 1993 and 1994 and turned the
money over to Ruiz Massieu.

Ruiz Massieu's lawyers have successfully fought four extradition requests.
He is under house arrest in New Jersey.

Ruiz Massieu, 46, who had served as Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor, has
said he is innocent and the victim of political persecution.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)