Mexican Congress reviews operations after troops bribed by drug cartels

[News_Editor]

Mexican Congress reviews operations after troops bribed by drug cartels

2010-11-09 00:14:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- The Mexican Army's military jurisdiction privileges are being reviewed by Congress to determine the nature of several cases in which drug cartels bribed troops and military leaders, local media said on Monday.

Emeequis Magazine revealed some of the files being reviewed, showing how members of the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels infiltrated Mexican military intelligence, particularly the Anti-drug Information Center (AIC).

In addition, transcripts of several phone calls involving active and former military personnel show how they worked as an information network that would alert drug cartels regarding possible military operations against them.

The files also show how the military dealt with the situation, and the steps it took to dismantle a network of spies working for the drug cartels.

According to reports, part of the network included Sgt. clerk Marcelino Arroyo Lopez and Pedro Barcenas, who was known as Captain Parrot (Capitan Perico). Parrot, or Perico in Spanish, is sometimes used as a synonym to cocaine.

The reports say that Arroyo Lopez would obtain information regarding AIC operations and would inform Barcenas, who would in turn leak the information to his drug cartel "superiors." The report also says that Barcenas received up to 2,000 dollars per report.

Barcenas would recruit further military personnel to join the network, including Francisco Tornez Castro, also known as Captain Pancho.

Files show that military generals formed a war council and gathered in July 2006 to determine the case of Arroyo Lopez. After reviewing recorded conversations, which included the use of code names, the council determined Arroyo Lopez was guilty of working for drug cartels.

Arroyo Lopez, who said in his defense that he and his family had been facing death threats, was sentenced to 23 years and four months in prison.

While investigations continue, on Friday, top drug lord Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, one of the leaders of the powerful Gulf Cartel, was killed after a six-hour-long gunfight with the Mexican military in the northern border city of Matamoros.

Some 25,000 people have died in drug-related violence after a military campaign against drug cartels was launched by President Felipe Calderon at the end of 2006.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-09