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Ex-crime chief arrested in Mexico | Ex-crime chief arrested in Mexico |
(30 minutes later) | |
The ex-head of Mexico's anti-organised crime agency has been arrested as part of a probe into links to drug cartels. | |
Noe Ramirez Mandujano was held in an operation that has detained other senior officials. | |
The attorney general said Mr Ramirez accepted $450,000 (£304,000) from cartels and was offered a monthly fee for information. | |
Mexico's drugs crackdown this year has seen many arrests but thousands have also died in drugs-related violence. | |
Interpol head | |
The office of Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Mr Ramirez had spoken to investigators voluntarily and was subsequently detained. | The office of Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Mr Ramirez had spoken to investigators voluntarily and was subsequently detained. |
He took up his post as head of the Special Organised Crime Investigation Division in 2006 and resigned in July as part of a shake-up by President Felipe Calderon. | |
Mr Ramirez 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. The arrests include the head of Mexico's Interpol office. Dozens of officials have been sacked. | |
On a visit to Chile on Friday, President Calderon said: "The Mexican government is firmly committed to the fight against organised crime and not just organised crime but corruption." | |
Mexican authorities have 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. | 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. | The attorney general's office has particularly targeted links to the cartels of the Beltran Leyva brothers, who recently split from the Sinaloa organisation. |