Transparency & accountability

Nine military members under investigation for assisting drug traffickers

Nine members of the military are being investigated for connections to drug trafficking groups. A federaljudge allowed authorities 40 days to come up with sufficient evidence to file charges against the suspects, who are believed to have been working in collusion with suspected trafficker Ismael Zambada Garcia.

Initial reports alleged they were colluding with suspected trafficker Joaquin Guzman, though it may be that they were working for both traffickers since Zambada and Guzman have been known to work together in the past.

The nine allegedly provided drug traffickers with information from Mexican investigations. El Universal reported information from unnamed sources that the suspects had received $100,000 monthly for providing drug groups with information on upcoming government operations and investigations. The nine military personnel were also allegedly based out of the states of Sinaloa and Durango.

Ten military members were initially detained and of that total nine have been held over for further investigations. This is the latest of a series of investigations targeting members of the military. In March, a dozen were arrested for suspected ties to a drug trafficking group called the Golfo en Aguascalientes. Six months ago, a soldier was detained for allegedly infiltrating information to the Beltran Leyva drug organization.

From the June Justice in Mexico Project’s Monthly News Report:

http://www.justiceinmexico.org/news/recent_news.php


SOURCES:
Aviles, Carlos. “Arraigan a 9 oficiales que ligan al narco.” El Universal. June 15, 2009.
Mendez, Alfredo. “Arraigan a militares arrestados por filtrar datos a El Chapo.” La Jornada. June 15, 2009.

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