Drug
Ties Taint 2 Mexican Governors
The Governor of
the Mexican state that borders Arizona is collaborating with one of the world's
most powerful drug traffickers, creating a haven for smugglers who transport
vast quantities of narcotics into the United States, according to American
officials and intelligence.
Officials said
this conclusion was based on a wealth of evidence, including ''highly
reliable'' informers' reports that the Governor, Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera,
took part in meetings in which leading traffickers paid high-level politicians
who were protecting their operations.
According to
the accounts, Raul Salinas de Gortari, the brother of the former President,
received suitcases full of cash and was responsible for distributing the money
to those attending.
Present and
former officials said the evidence of Mr. Beltrones's role was so detailed and
compelling that the United States had included his name on a confidential
document provided to the transition team of President Ernesto Zedillo listing
more than a dozen officials suspected of corruption. Another Mexican Governor, Jorge
Carrillo Olea, was also included on the American blacklist because of reported
entanglements with major drug dealers.
While Mr.
Zedillo did not name either man to a federal post, both continue to wield
considerable power in their states and nationally through their prominence in
Mexico's governing party. Both seem to enjoy a tacit immunity from concerted
criminal investigation in Mexico and the United States.