Pubdate: Thu,  2 Dec 2004
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2004 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

CANCUN OFFICIALS SUSPECTED IN SLAYINGS

CANCUN, Mexico - The federal attorney general's office fired its
representative in Cancun and took him into custody Wednesday, charged
along with a group of suspects in connection with the killings of nine
people, including three federal agents.

The arrest of Miguel Angel Hernandez came a day after soldiers
surrounded the headquarters of federal investigators in this resort
city, and Mexico's top drug- and organized-crime prosecutor, Jose Luis
Santiago Vasconcelos, said everyone who worked there was under
suspicion for protecting or working for drug smugglers.

Hernandez and Felipe de Jesus Arguelles, who oversees Cancun's police,
traffic and emergency departments, were among a group of suspects
flown to Mexico City late Wednesday night to answer questions,
Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said at a news conference.

Santiago Vasconcelos, who is leading the investigation in Cancun, said
rival traffickers working for escaped accused drug lord Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman and imprisoned capo Osiel Cardenas, the reputed head of
the gulf cartel, are both suspected in the nine killings, which appear
aimed at returning the Caribbean coast region to the dark days of the
1990s when it was a major drug corridor.

The arrest of Hernandez, Arguelles and the other suspects suggests
smugglers may have received help from current and former government
employees in Cancun.
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