Mexico

National Interpol chief arrested

Article published on the 2008-11-19 Latest update 2008-11-19 14:53 TU

Reporter Armando Rodriguez is the latest fatality in Mexico's brutal drug war
(Credit: Reuters)

The head of Mexico's Interpol section, Ricardo Gutierrez Vargas, was arrested Sunday by Mexican police on charges that he had used intelligence to protect high-ranking Mexican narcotraffickers. His arrest comes as a blow to the country's ongoing war against drug lords that has killed some 4,300 this year alone.

Gutierrez Vergas was arrested in a sting codenamed "Operation Clean House" that had been ordered by Mexico's top prosecutor, Eduardo Medina Mora.

A total of 35 federal agents who are narcotrafficking specialists have been picked up over the past few weeks of the sting, accused of filtering information to the narcotraffickers.

According to prosecutors, Gutierrez Vargas and other police chiefs were given large amounts of cash in exchange for information outlining police plans to ensnare and arrest those in their drug trafficking operation. Gutierrez Vargas reportedly received a briefcase stuffed with half a million US dollars.

"It is not the first time Interpol representatives have been compromised by narcotraffickers," Jean Rivelois, a drugs trade expert, told RFI's Latin American service.

In order for drug dealers to work efficiently, they must pay bribes, therefore effectively corrupting the police force that is supposed to arrest them, he added.

It is for this reason that police are relatively poorly regarded by Mexicans. In the border town of Tijuana, for example, a prime target for narcotraffickers, some 500 police, or roughly a quarter of the police force have been sacked for corruption.