MEXICAN ARMY, COPS RAID POLICE DRUG OFFICES

MEXICO CITY - Mexican army troops and police inspectors raided offices of
the federal anti-drug police in 11 of Mexico's 31 states Thursday, and
investigators said hundreds of police agents are under investigation for
corruption.

The massive anti-corruption raid came after seven drug agents were arrested
over the weekend for holding unregistered drugs and drug suspects, one of
many documented cases in recent years of police protecting drug traffickers
in Mexico.

Hundreds of federal police agents or employees are under investigation for
possible offenses ranging from bribery to abuse of authority, Angel
Buendia, a top Justice Department inspector, told a news conference, noting
that 1,180 such cases have been investigated since 2000.

"This is an operation aimed at combating impunity and corruption wherever
they may be within the Justice Department," Buendia, told a news conference.

The dozens of anti-drug agents under investigation were not arrested in the
raids on offices of the Federal Special Prosecutor's Office for Drug
Crimes, or FEADS in 11 states.

FEADS offices were raided in Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nayarit,
Chiapas, Guerrero, Baja California, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Yucatan and Jalisco.

"No mention was made of any agent having been detained" in the raids, said
Elizabeth Juarez, a Justice Department spokesman. "Nor did the army 'take
over' the offices, the soldiers were simply helping police (inspectors)."

Local media reported that the raids may have also been aimed at seizing
possibly incriminating documents from the offices.

Thursday's raids marked the most massive strike against police corruption
in recent years in Mexico. Heavily-armed soldiers and FEADS investigators
took control of the offices and posted guards around them.

Television footage showed soldiers with full battle gear and assault rifles
posted outside the FEADS office in Tapachula, a city near the Guatemalan
border.

The raids followed a shocking discover made over the weekend, when 7 FEADS
agents in Tijuana were charged with illegally detaining two drug smugglers,
then offering to free them and return their drugs in exchange for a bribe
of US$2 million.

On Thursday, a judge in northern Baja California state ordered the seven to
stand trial on the drug charges.

The agents were arrested earlier by Mexican soldiers for holding more than
four tons of marijuana that had not been registered with the government.
The packages of marijuana were found today at offices used by the FEADS in
the border city of Tijuana.

But Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said Thursday's raids
weren't just a reaction to the Tijuana case, but rather part of a strategy
to take corruption head-on and restructure federal police agencies.

"This isn't a reaction to the problem in Tijuana, but rather part of a
planned strategy," Macedo said.

"This allows us to start the work of restructuring ... with a new special
prosecutors' office whose personnel will be subject to previous review and
screening."

Federal agents have long been tied to Mexico's drug trade, and President
Vicente Fox's government has spent the last two years trying to purge
corruption from its ranks.

Several high-ranking government officials have been arrested for protecting
smugglers or participating directly in the drug trade, including former
Quintana Roo state Gov. Mario Villanueva.

While officials previously preferred a piecemeal approach when corruption
came to light in one office or another, they now appear to have launched a
frontal, nationwide assault on the problem.