Mexican Military Implicated in Drug Corruption

>From Times Wire Services

NEW YORKSome of Mexico's biggest antidrug
operations were the brainchild of a Mexican drug lord who
used the military to fight rival dealers, it was 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. Jose de Jesus
Gutierrez Rebollo, who was arrested in February and charged with
corruption. Prior to his arrest, Gutierrez was Mexico's antidrug
czar.
In transcripts of his defense obtained Friday, Gutierrez says
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, whom U.S. and Mexican drug
enforcement agencies have identified as Mexico's most powerful
drug lord, "could count on the protection of personnel in the
Ministry of Defense," adding that a leak from high up helped
Carrillo evade arrest in January.
"[It] is evident that complicity with Amado Carrillo came from
the ranks of the Defense Ministry," Gutierrez said in testimony
delivered May 15.
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 Carrillo, 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 New York Times report said.
Gutierrez, 63, a former general who has been jailed since
February, denied the charges and said that he kept other officials
abreast of his efforts to fight drugs, including his dealings with
Carrillo's associates.

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