Mexican anti-crime unit alleged to have leaked info to drug dealers

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Another day, another alarming revelation of alleged involvement by government officials in Mexican drug-trafficking.

As the L.A. Times’ Ken Ellingwood reports today, six members of the Mexican government’s top organized-crime unit have been arrested on suspicion of leaking information to drug traffickers.

‘An official in the Mexican attorney general’s office said a supervisor and five agents are thought to have passed tips to smugglers in the west-central state of Sinaloa for about three months.’

According to a Mexican official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, ‘The men disclosed details about evidence that had been seized during government raids and information about arrestees. He said authorities were looking into possible involvement by other employees of the agency, known as SIEDO, its initials in Spanish.’

‘SIEDO, which investigates drug and arms smuggling as well as kidnapping and terrorism cases, is well known and generally trusted by American law enforcement agencies.’

‘Confirmation that SIEDO was infiltrated by drug traffickers would be a black eye for the 400-member agency and for President Felipe Calderon’s 20-month-old offensive against organized crime.’

‘Mexico is awaiting $400 million in U.S. crime-fighting aid [under the so-called Merida Initiative] as the first installment in what the two nations describe as a stepped-up joint push to combat the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.’
For more on the Merida Initiative, read here.
-- Reed Johnson in Mexico City