Policeman held over drugs gang
Soldiers arrested the deputy police chief of a Mexican resort town and six other officers who were allegedly protecting drug cartel members at a cock fight.
Fourteen suspected members of the Beltran Leyva drug gang were arrested on Wednesday at the cock fight in Zihuatanejo, a Pacific beach town popular with foreign tourists, Mexico's defence department said.
Soldiers also seized 59 packets of cocaine, 40 bags of marijuana and 20 assault rifles.
Seven heavily-armed police officers had been guarding the suspected drug traffickers, the department said. They included Zihuatanejo's deputy police chief, Timoteo Mata Cruz.
The department did not say what led up to Wednesday's raid, although cock fights are illegal in Zihuatanejo. It was unclear whether the police officers had previously been suspected of collaborating with the Beltran Leyva cartel.
Zihuatanejo mayor Blanco de Aquino said he had no advance notice of the raid and he could not comment on the allegations against the police officers.
"There are no police forces at any level that are 100% free of members who don't act correctly," he said.
Police corruption runs deep in Mexico despite numerous attempts to purge forces. Mexico's former drug tsar and several other federal officers were arrested earlier this year for allegedly accepting money from drug cartels.
President Felipe Calderon's government has relied heavily on the army in his fight against drug gangs, deploying more than 20,000 troops to hotspots across the country. The US has backed Mexico's campaign with £267 million for equipment and training.
The Mexican military, however, has also been plagued with abuse and corruption allegations. The National Human Rights Commissions said yesterday it had received 631 complaints against the defence department this year, more than any other government institution.
