Salinas Kin Linked to Cocaine
Swiss police investigators have concluded that a brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari played a central role in Mexico’s cocaine trade, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The paper said that Salinas’ elder brother, Raul Salinas de Gortari, raked in huge bribes to protect the flow of drugs into the United States.
It quoted a secret 369-page report as saying the Swiss investigators asserted that Raul Salinas used his influence in his brother’s administration to organize an elaborate network of protection for drug smugglers.
The Swiss police report also alleges that he channeled drug money to his brother’s presidential campaign, the paper said.
Salinas’ lead attorney, Eduardo Luengo Creel, said in an interview with the paper that “the report is absolutely false.”
Attorneys for Raul Salinas were not available for further comment Saturday, and a spokesman for the Swiss Justice Ministry declined comment.
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