Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 Page A14 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Jerome Taylor, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico IN DRUG INQUIRY, MEXICO ARRESTS ANOTHER TOP POLICE OFFICIAL MEXICO CITY - A top police official who worked as Mexico's main liaison with Interpol was placed under house arrest as part of an investigation into leaks of information to drug cartels, prosecutors said Tuesday. The arrest of Ricardo Gutierrez Vargas, who served as director for international police affairs and Interpol at the Federal Investigative Agency, was the latest blow to Mexico's police forces, which have had a number of top officials linked to the nation's powerful and violent drug gangs. The investigation that swept up Mr. Gutierrez Vargas also resulted in the detention of several other federal police officials in recent weeks on suspicion of leaking information to traffickers. Officials at the Interpol General Secretariat, based in Lyon, France, were not available for comment on Tuesday. An Interpol Web site said that national bureaus like Mexico's, which Mr. Gutierrez Vargas headed, were connected to the agency's communications network, "which enables them to share crucial information on criminals and criminal activities." Mexican prosecutors previously announced that Rodolfo de la Guardia Garcia, the No. 2 official at the Federal Investigative Agency from 2003 to 2005, was placed under house arrest for 40 days. Investigators are looking into the possibility that he had leaked information to the Sinaloa drug-smuggling cartel in return for monthly payments. Mr. de la Guardia was elected to Interpol's executive committee in 2002 but was removed from that post by the Mexican government in 2004, the Interpol General Secretariat said in a statement at the time. The detentions of Mr. Gutierrez Vargas and Mr. de la Guardia are part of the government's Operation Clean House, which is aimed at weeding out corruption that came to light after the January arrest of Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a reputed lieutenant of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Four officials of the Public Safety Department, including a former federal police commissioner, Gerardo Garay, were placed under house arrest earlier, though allegations against them have not been disclosed. In recent weeks, the Sinaloa cartel has also been linked to four Mexican military officers and one soldier, as well as five officials in the organized-crime unit of the attorney general's office, which oversees the agency that employed Mr. de la Guardia. On Tuesday, prosecutors also announced the detention of a crusading former federal police official for questioning on possible links to organized crime. The attorney general's office said a former regional police coordinator, Javier Herrera, had been detained for 48 hours. No formal charges have been filed. He had openly accused top federal police officials of incompetence and mismanagement and has since been dismissed from his post. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake