MEXICO ARRESTS FORMER GOVERNOR FOR DRUG-LORD TIES

MEXICO CITY - A former governor has been jailed for his ties to known drug
lords, the Mexico attorney general's office said.

Former Jalisco state governor, Flavio Romero de Velasco, traveled through
Europe and Africa with known drug traffickers from whom he accepted gifts,
the office said in a statement released late Saturday.

``It is the conclusion of this government office that Romero de Velasco
laundered money with the drug trafficker Rigoberto Gaxiola Medina, who has
escaped Mexican justice since April 4, 1997,'' the attorney general's
office, known as the PGR, said.

Justice officials jailed Romero de Velasco early Saturday after uncovering
state financial records that tie the respected former governor with drug
traffickers Gaxiola and Jorge Abrego Reyna, the PGR said.

The now 73-year-old Romero de Velasco was governor of the western state
from 1977 to 1983. Jalisco traditionally houses some of Mexico's top drug
lords.

The PGR said it began investigating Romero de Velasco in August 1997 after
he phoned the office of President Ernesto Zedillo, claiming a close
personal relationship that the PGR said does not exist.

It said Romero de Velasco, ``discussed affairs of a supposedly financial
nature that are completely unrelated and inappropriate to be discussed with
the president's office.''

According to the PGR, Romero de Velasco also tried to bilk attorney Raul
Carranca of 500,000 pesos, or $60,314, by saying he would be named Interior
Minister of the country and offering favors. Romero de Velasco would have
thanked Carranca for the loan, by appointing him Attorney General.

Romero de Velasco did not become Interior Minister.

Residents of Jalisco have said the former governor's ties to drug lords
were well known, but that he was respected because he kept the state safe
and peaceful.

The PGR said the arrest proved its determination to apprehend corrupt
public officials. Mexico's government has been plagued with ties to drug
lords within its ranks, with five army generals arrested in the past 12
months on drug charges.