U.S. anti-drug information leaked to Mexico cartels

By Mica Rosenberg

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Corrupt officials inside Mexico's security forces have leaked U.S. anti-drugs intelligence directly to drug traffickers to help them escape raids, a senior U.S. law enforcement agent said.

A recent anti-corruption sweep showed the infiltration of Mexican police forces had reached alarming levels, with several high-ranking investigators and a presidential guardsman arrested for selling information to drug cartels.

The U.S. agent said the arrests were an encouraging sign that Mexico's government is serious about stopping drug gangs from getting their hands on intelligence, some of which comes from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA.

"There have been occurrences where we have shared information and then found that the information we shared was compromised, given, provided, leaked to the very targets that were being investigated," the official told Reuters late on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has made fighting drug cartels his top priority, deploying thousands of soldiers and federal police to take on heavily armed traffickers, dominated by the Sinaloa federation and the Gulf Cartel.

The U.S. agent praised Calderon for fighting the drug gangs head on but said some operations have been frustrated as cartels flush with cash can pay massive bribes for information or use violence to intimidate police.

"There is no infallible system when you are talking about a $65 billion enterprise. Money talks," he said, referring to the estimated size of Mexico's drug trade.

Among those arrested last year were Mexico's liaison to Interpol as well as the country's organized crime chief Noe Ramirez, who is accused of taking at least $450,000 to pass secrets to crime gangs.