POLICE CHIEF, 120 OFFICERS ARRESTED IN MEXICO RAID

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) -- The Tijuana police chief and about 120 other state
and city law enforcement officers from two Baja California border cities
were arrested yesterday, the state governor's office said.

The surprise operation appeared to be part of President Vicente Fox's
crackdown on drug smuggling and police corruption. The federal attorney
general's office did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Army and federal police raided the state police academy in Tecate, about 65
miles east of Tijuana, where officers were holding a meeting on their
licenses to carry arms. The police were ordered to turn over their weapons
and credentials and placed under arrest, said Governor Eugenio Elorduy of
Baja California. It was unclear what charges the officers faced.

"The important thing here is that those with responsibility are committed
to combatting corruption," Elorduy said. "We know that we have to fight
impunity because we know that it occurs within state offices."

After they were questioned, the detainees were taken to Tijuana and loaded
onto three planes to Mexico City.

Carlos Otal, the Tijuana chief, and his two bodyguards were rounded up in
the sweep, said Martin Dominguez, Tijuana's public security secretary.

The arrests came a day after the UN investigator into judicial
independence, Param Cumaraswamy, said corruption in the Mexican legal
system "continued unabated" despite attempts at reform.

Fox's administration has made several major arrests in the last few months,
including two stunning blows to the most feared drug gang in Mexico.
Benjamin Arellano Felix was arrested March 9. His brother Ramon, who was on
the FBI's 10 most-wanted list, was killed by police on Feb. 10.

A few days after Arellano Felix's detention, officials announced the arrest
of Manuel Herrera Barraza, allegedly the brothers' principal smuggler of
marijuana and cocaine into the western United States.

Last week outside Tecate, authorities dismantled a secret, 1,000-foot
tunnel under the US-Mexico border that was believed used by the gang to
ship tons of cocaine and marijuana into California for more than a decade.

Mexican police have often cooperated and even worked for drug smugglers. In
September, the former police chief in Mexicali, just east of Tecate, was
jailed for allegedly warning the Arellano Felix gang of police operations.