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Ex-crime chief arrested in Mexico | Ex-crime chief arrested in Mexico |
(41 minutes later) | |
The former head of Mexico's anti-organised crime agency has been arrested during an investigation into links to drug cartels. | The former head of Mexico's anti-organised crime agency has been arrested during an investigation into links to drug cartels. |
Noe Ramirez, who headed the Special Organised Crime Investigation Division, was held in an operation that has seen a number of senior officials detained. | Noe Ramirez, who headed the Special Organised Crime Investigation Division, was held in an operation that has seen a number of senior officials detained. |
He resigned in July as part of a shake-up by President Felipe Calderon. | He resigned in July as part of a shake-up by President Felipe Calderon. |
The attorney general said Mr Ramirez accepted $450,000 from cartels and was offered a monthly fee for information. | |
The office of Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Mr Ramirez had spoken to investigators voluntarily and was subsequently detained. | |
Mr Ramirez, who took up his post in 2006, is the highest-ranking law official yet detained in Operation Clean-up, which was launched to try to curb corruption linked to drug smuggling. | |
Five senior officials and two federal agents have been held in the campaign. Dozens of officials have been sacked. | |
Mexican authorities have also had success in arresting key members of drug cartels in recent months. | |
However across the country this year, more than 4,000 people have died in drug-related violence as gangs fight each other and the security forces. | |
The attorney general's office has particularly targeted links to the cartels of the Beltran Leyva brothers, who recently split from the Sinaloa organisation. |