Mexico & Nafta - 10 February 2004

The federal authorities are stepping in. The office of the federal procuradurí­a general (PGR) took 16 of the police officers to Mexico City for further questioning. The deputy director of the unit combating organised crime at the PGR, José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, said that the case was extremely serious because it showed that the police had become heavily corrupted and, instead of protecting people, were working for drug traffickers.

The question is whether the complicity goes higher than the police commander, Miguel Angel Loya. He has not been at work for the past couple of days and the state authorities only learnt that he had been taken to Mexico City when the PGR told them. The case could have major political implications: there is a crucial gubernatorial election in the state in July.

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