Paper: Drug Baron Aided By Dragnet

NEW YORK (AP) Some of Mexico's biggest antidrug operations were the
brainchild of a Mexican drug lord who used the military to fight rival
dealers, The New York Times reported today.

The report, based on testimony military officers gave during court
proceedings in Mexico City, called into question efforts by the U.S. and
Mexican governments to rely on the Mexican military in their war on drugs.

The testimony was part of the case against Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, who
was arrested in February and charged with corruption. Prior to his arrest,
Gutierrez was Mexico's antidrug czar.

A number of army captains, lieutenants and other officers are cooperating
with prosecutors in the case, court records show.

The officers testified that Gutierrez, Mexican military units and at least
four generals worked closely with associates of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, a
drug baron who helped pay for attacks on his rivals.

Corrupt operations included the army's sweep through Tijuana in March 1996, a
dragnet last fall for the assassins of a police commander and January's
seizure of a navy freighter carrying cocaine, the Times said.

Gutierrez, 63, has denied the charges and said that he kept other officials
abreast of his efforts to fight drugs, including his dealings with Fuentes's
associates.