BAJA CALIFORNIA TOURISM SECRETARY DISPUTES DRUG LINK

A Treasury Department list of businesses with alleged links to drug
traffickers includes a company owned by the family of the tourism secretary
for the Mexican state of Baja California.

Tourism Secretary Alejandro Moreno denied Friday that his family's parking
garage business has been used to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel
and said he would open the company's records to U.S. authorities to prove
the allegations are untrue.

"I'm confident that the family name will be completely cleared when the
facts of this situation come to light," Moreno said in a statement released
through a San Diego public relations firm.

Moreno, a prominent businessman in Tijuana, Mexico, was appointed tourism
secretary in the border state by Gov. Eugenio Elorduy, who was elected in July.

His family's company, Valpark S.A., was included on a list of 12 businesses
and 15 individuals that Treasury Department officials said Thursday had
laundered drug proceeds or acted as agents or fronts for the Tijuana-based
Arellano Felix drug cartel or Caribbean drug kingpin Glenroy Matthew.

The list also includes the Oasis Beach Resort, a large, domed hotel
overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Rosarito Beach, as well as a Baja
California drug store chain, real estate firm and two electronic security
system companies.

The Treasury Department ordered U.S. banks to freeze any assets belonging
to the businesses found in the United States and barred the firms from
doing business in this country.

In response, a top Mexican prosecutor said his country's Justice Department
is waiting to see U.S. evidence against those named in the list before
taking any action.