EX-POLICE CHIEF COOPERATES IN U.S. DRUG PROBE

Crime: The former Mexican official says he accepted $2 million in bribes in
'93 and'94.

Houston - Mexican law-enforcement officials have allowed the jailed former
head of their national police to travel secretly to the United States to
testify about drug payoffs, two officials familiar with the case said.

The former police director, Adrian Carrera, told a federal grand jury in
Houston in June that he collected nearly $2 million in drug bribes in 1993
and 1994 and turned the money over to a former colleague, Mario Ruiz
Massieu, the U.S. officials said.

The called it a ground breaking collaboration between the two countries.

U.S. investigators said Carrera's account could be the evidence they have
long sought in what has been a frustrating effort to prosecute Ruiz
Massieu, who was arrested in New Jersey three years ago, or extradite him
to Mexico to face charges.

Mexican officials took the case so seriously that they agreed to let
Carrera appear amid a dispute over the Clinton administration's failure to
alert them to a U.S. undercover operation to stop money laundering by
Mexican banks.

U.S. officials are hopeful that the testimony of Carrera and other new
witnesses will prompt Ruiz Massieu to testify about allegations of
corruption in the inner circle of former President Carlos Salinas. The
discovery of more than $130 million deposited in Swiss banks by Salinas'
elder brother, Raul, has led to corruption investigations in Europe, the
United States and Mexico.

A lawyer for Ruiz Massieu, Cathy Fleming, said the reported testimony
contradicted previous sworn statements by Carrera. "If he tells the truth
now," she said, "Mario will have no problems."

The two governments have traded court witnesses and confidential informants
many times before. But Carrera is the first high-level witness to reach the
United States after passage of a new law allowing prosecutors to protect
cooperative witnesses and plea-bargain with criminals.

Carrera, 55, held senior posts in Mexico's prison system and police force
during most of Salinas' six-year term. He also worked closely with Ruiz
Massieu, who supervised federal police and anti-drug operations.