MEXICO CITY - A federal judge in Mexico has ordered two army generals placed under a form of house arrest pending an investigation for possible links to the Beltran-Leyva drug cartel.
The Attorney-General's Office said in a statement on Thursday that the generals will remain under arrest for at least 40 days while prosecutors strengthen their case.
The investigation against retired General Tomas Angeles Dauahare and General Roberto Dawe Gonzalez is based on a case from 2009 that includes "the testimony of several people on trial, including some soldiers", the office said.
An official at the Attorney-General's Office says generals protected members of the Beltran-Leyva group, which has been battling the Sinaloa drug cartel since 2008, when they ended an alliance. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to discuss the case.
Soldiers detained the officers on Tuesday. President Felipe Calderon named Angeles Dauahare as assistant defence secretary in 2006. He left the post in 2008, when he retired. He is the highest ranking military official to be linked to drug traffickers during the current administration.
Dawe Gonzalez is currently assigned to a military base in the western state of Colima.