POLICE, EX-SOLDIERS ARRESTED IN MEXICO FOR TIES TO DRUG LORD

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 15 -- Police officers and former anti-narcotic soldiers
were among 16 people arrested on accusations of protecting a drug lord who
has a $2 million U.S. bounty on his head.

Anti-drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago, who announced the arrests Friday,
called the soldiers and police "deserters, traitors."

The announcement is the latest sign that the money and power of Mexico's
drug cartels continue to corrupt law enforcement.

President Vicente Fox has waged an "all-out war" on drug trafficking and
government corruption, yet both remain rampant.

Osiel Cardenas Guillen has threatened the lives of Mexican and U.S.
anti-drug agents and is considered one of the most violent drug lords.

He is said to be rebuilding the Gulf Cartel, once led by Amado Carrillo
Fuentes, who died in a hospital four years ago after undergoing plastic
surgery to disguise himself. U.S. officials have offered a $2 million
reward for Cardenas.

The soldiers on Cardenas's payroll were until recently part of an elite
airborne unit that tracked drug trafficking.

Along with the arrests, prosecutor Santiago announced the seizures of 21
homes, three airplanes and a stockpile of cocaine and guns.

Mexico City officials are also fighting a rising number of kidnappings,
most believed to involve the police.

In a dramatic example Friday night, the nephew of a former cabinet member
was kidnapped. Two men put a gun to Cesar Carrasco's head and told him to
drive his car. But as he drove past the headquarters of the Federal
Preventive Police in Mexico City, he steered headlong into the building,
crashing the car and escaping.