Mexico: Top law official arrested on drugs

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Mexico's top law officer working with Interpol was arrested Tuesday in an investigation into alleged ties to Mexican officials and drug trafficking.

Ricardo Gutierrez was placed under house arrest while investigators search for evidence of the alleged ties, El Universal reported Tuesday online.

Mexican prosecutors said they had obtained information about Gutierrez from a drug trafficking suspect taken into custody earlier this year.

Drug violence has increased dramatically in Mexico in recent months, prompting President Felipe Calderon to deploy thousands of troops to Mexican border towns where illicit drugs are transported into the United States.