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MEXICO CITY – Mexico's former ruling party said Wednesday it will suspend theparty membership of a former governor accused of accepting millionsof dollars in bribes from drug cartels. The Institutional Revolutionary Party said the former governor ofthe border state of Tamaulipas, Tomas Yarrington, will be suspendeduntil the accusations are cleared up. The party, known as the PRI,held Mexico's presidency without interruption from 1929 to 2000,and continues to govern most Mexican states. "The PRI calls upon Mr. Yarrington to fully cooperate with theappropriate authorities to clear up the acts of which he isaccused," the party said in a news release. "Mr. Yarrington shouldface his personal responsibility ... Where illegal acts are proved,the law should be fully applied." The party in the past has often been accused of protectinggovernors against charges of corruption and malfeasance, and onlytwo former governors — one of them a PRI member — havebeen arrested in recent memory. Yarrington served as governor from 1999 to 2004 in a stateconsidered the home turf of the Gulf cartel. Yarrington has not been charged with any crime, but U.S. federalprosecutors filed two civil forfeiture cases Tuesday seeking toseize more than $7 million in properties Yarrington or hisassociates allegedly bought in Texas. U.S. authorities are tryingto confiscate a condominium in South Padre Island and a 46-acreproperty in San Antonio. Yarrington's lawyer, Joel Androphy, told The Associated Press onWednesday that Yarrington does not own the properties in questionand is innocent of the allegations. Androphy suggested that othertargets of federal investigations have implicated the ex-governorto improve their own situations. "Obviously desperate people say desperate things and obviouslythere are desperate people using his name for some sort of theirown personal gain and that is just not true," Androphy said. Yarrington was mentioned earlier this year in the federalindictment of Antonio Pena Arguelles, who was charged with moneylaundering in San Antonio. That indictment alleges that leaders ofthe Gulf and Zetas cartels paid millions to PRI members, includingYarrington. An affidavit filed in that case said the U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration had obtained ledgers documenting millions of dollarsin payments to Yarrington's representatives. It accused Pena ofusing U.S. bank accounts to funnel millions to Yarrington fromleaders of the Gulf and the Zetas. Confidential informants said themoney was to buy political influence in Tamaulipas. Also Wednesday, Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office said ithad extradited an alleged top operator for the Beltran Leyva cartelto the United States, to face a federal indictment in a Texasdistrict court on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Mexican marines captured suspect Sergio Villarreal Barragan, apresumed leader of the embattled Beltran Leyva cartel and one ofthe country's most-wanted fugitives, in a raid in the central stateof Puebla in September 2010. He was turned over to U.S. authoritiesTuesday. Known as "El Grande," or "The Big One," because of his size,Villarreal Barragan had been a government witness following hisarrest, according to an employee of the attorney general's officewho was not authorized to speak on the record. The employee saidVillarreal Barragan had been one of the witnesses whose testimonywas used to detain four high-ranking Mexican army officers,including three generals, on suspicion of aiding the Beltran Leyvacartel. All of the officers are being held under a form of house arrest andhave not yet been charged. The lawyers for two of the generals saidtheir clients are innocent and their rights have been violatedduring their detention. I am an expert from carcodescanner.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Avl Gps Tracker , China Auto Key Programmer, Car Diagnostics Tools,and more.
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