Former Mexican Police Commander Convicted

McALLEN, Texas (AP) – A former Mexican police commander accused of being a top operative in Mexico’s notorious Gulf drug cartel has been convicted on all charges.

Jurors found Carlos Landin Martinez guilty Wednesday in McAllen on 10 counts of drug trafficking, conspiracy and money laundering over alleged cartel activities from 2005 to 2007.

Sentencing is set for April 17, and Landin could face 20 years in prison on each count.

Prosecutors say Landin oversaw an operation in which traffickers wanting to use lucrative smuggling routes across the border into South Texas had to pay Landin a “piso,” or tax, to move drugs in cartel territory.

Landin was the Gulf cartel’s second in command in Reynosa, a Mexican city south of McAllen, prosecutors say.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)