MEXICO CITY, May 26 (UPI) -- A former Cancun mayor running for higher office has been arrested on money-laundering charges and linked to drug runners, authorities say.
The Mexican Attorney General's Office alleged Wednesday George Sanchez Martinez, a candidate for governor of Quintana Roo, the Caribbean state where Cancun is located, has ties to the Beltran Leyva and Los Zetas drug cartels, McClatchy Newspapers reported. The office said Sanchez was arrested at the resort city's airport Tuesday.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Ricardo Najera said the candidate had moved millions of dollars in suspicious funds through his bank accounts.
"We are certain that many people around him are also involved," Najera said.
Jesus Ortega Martinez of the Revolutionary Democratic Party that backs Sanchez accused the government of using the charges to seek political advantage.
"We will not permit, and we should not permit for the health of the country, that judicial processes be utilized for political ends," Ortega Martinez said.
Quintana Roo is one of 10 Mexican states holding elections July 4.
