Former Mexican Drug Czar Got $450K to Keep Traffickers Informed, Authorities Say
In a continuing shakeup in high-echelon Mexican law enforcement, a former drug czar has been accused of being paid $450,000 by drug traffickers, in exchange for providing them with information about police operations.
“Noe Ramirez is the highest law enforcement official detained yet as part of Mexico’s sweeping effort to weeding out authorities who allegedly shared police information with violent drug smugglers,” reports the Associated Press.
Details of the charges against Ramirez, who formerly was in charge of anti-organized crime efforts at the Mexican attorney general’s office, were provided by Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora in a news conference today in Mexico City, Bloomberg reports.
“Last month, authorities arrested 35 employees of the organized crime unit on charges of passing information to the Sinaloa drug cartel,” the Bloomberg article recounts. “A director in the unit was arrested and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. for allegedly conspiring to sell cocaine there. The employees were each paid as much as $450,000 a month by the cartel, according to Medina Mora.”
Related coverage:
Los Angeles Times: “Mexico Under Siege: Complete Coverage”
ABAJournal.com: “Mexican Drug War Infiltrates All of US”
ABAJournal.com: “Spying in Mexican AG’s Office Could Be Linked to US DEA”
