.c The Associated Press

Gunmen have shot and wounded a key prosecution witness in a drug case against
an army general, in what appears to be a widening scandal involving the
Mexican military.

The witness, Ricardo Cesareo Vazquez Tafolla, was injured slightly when
gunmen opened fire as he left his home Friday in the western city of
Guadalajara.

Vazquez Tafolla recognized at least one of his attackers as being linked to
Brig. Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, who was arrested in February a few months
after he was fired as head of the Institute to Combat Drugs.

Gutierrez Rebollo is one of several men accused of having been employed by
the late drug lord Amado Carillo Fuentes.

Gutierrez Rebollo, a career officer for 42 years, made a name for himself
arresting a number of powerful drug lords in western Mexico all of them
Carrillo Fuentes' rivals in the illegal drug trade. He has denied any
wrongdoing.

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