ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
Mexico's drug czar arrested
MEXICO CITY - The army general appointed to bring toughness and integrity to Mexico's war on drugs has been arrested, less than three months into his new job, on suspicion of taking bribes to protect a leading drug lord.
The ouster of Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo shook Mexico's military and political establishment and dismayed the United States' own drug czar, who had lauded Gutierrez's ``reputation of impeccable integrity'' when the career army man was appointed to head the National Institute for Combating Drugs.
Defense Secretary Gen. Enrique Cervantes Aguirre announced Gutierrez's firing and arrest at a news conference Tuesday night, while Gutierrez was in a military hospital recovering from an apparent heart attack suffered when authorities confronted him with the evidence against him.
``This is very painful for us to report,'' Cervantes Aguirre said - a statement echoed by President Ernesto Zedillo, who called it ``concealment and deceit ... and betrayal of the army.''
Authorities said a number of law-enforcement officials and military officers who worked with Gutierrez were also under arrest, but gave little additional information.
Gutierrez and his associates are suspected of receiving money and favors from Amado Carrillo Fuentes, one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords. Mexicans call Carrillo Fuentes the ``Lord of the Skies'' because he uses an airplane to transport illegal drugs across the border into the United States.
- Associated Press
Young hockey fans claim abuse at rink
TORONTO - Another sex-abuse scandal jolting the hockey world in Canada involves allegations that staff at Maple Leaf Gardens, one of the sport's hallowed sites, lured boys into sex with offers of free tickets and player autographs.
A former maintenance worker at the arena, Gordon Stuckless, 47, appeared in court Wednesday on charges of indecent assault and gross indecency. At least two other arena employees, one of them deceased, allegedly were involved in a sex ring.
``We have reason to believe there are many, many victims, but only one is capable of going to court at this time,'' said Toronto police Detective Dave Tredrea.
That complainant is Martin Kruze, 34, who says the abuse started when he was 13 in 1975 and continued until 1982. He said the abuse, including group sex, took place in back rooms of the arena, sometimes during Toronto Maple Leaf games.
- Associated Press
Moldova says fallout causing cancer
KISHINEV, Moldova - Cancer and other radiation-related illnesses are on the rise in Moldova because of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, a top health official said Wednesday.
Ion Bahnarel, head of the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said such illnesses are not expected to peak in the former Soviet republic until the turn of the century.
Cases of Down syndrome have tripled in the past 10 years, more than half of expectant mothers are ill, and 40 percent of expectant mothers suffer from anemia, according to the Health Ministry.
The Chernobyl plant was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, when reactor No.4 exploded in April 1986, contaminating more than 10,000 square miles. Moldova is between Ukraine, where Chernobyl is located, and Romania.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB