Jail upheld for disgraced former
Mexican drug czar

MEXICO CITY, Reuters [WS] : A Mexican
tribunal on Wednesday upheld the jailing of Gen. Jesus Gutierrez
Rebollo, Mexico's disgraced top antidrugs chief arrested on
charges of drugs corruption.

In a statement, the Attorney General's Office said Gutierrez
Rebollo and a colleague, Capt. Javier Garcia Hernandez, were
formally convicted by a civilian tribunal of weapons stockpiling,
transport of arms and abuse of authority.

It was not immediately clear what was the status of the drugs
charges against the general.

Gutierrez Rebollo's arrest in February was a crushing
embarassment for Mexico and the U.S. government that had given
him its seal of approval as head of Mexico's main antinarcotics
agency.

The National Institute for Combatting Drugs that he headed until
his arrest has now been disbanded, but not before Mexico was
sharply criticised in the U.S. Congress for Gutierrez Rebollo's
appointment and other setbacks in its drugs war.

[Copyright 1997, Reuters]