http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6264321.html

Violence, corruption show not all of Cancun is pristine
Not far from town’s famous beaches, gang violence and corruption are common
By DUDLEY ALTHAUS
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 15, 2009, 12:12AM


CANCUN, Mexico — Sparkling seas, shimmering beaches and super-sized resorts made Cancun famous. But street thugs and prostitutes, smugglers and stick-up artists now threaten to make it notorious.

Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez took office last year promising to clean up the city. He vowed to disband Cancun’s 100-odd gangs, shut down or banish its brothels, and end drug sales in its working-class neighborhoods. He bragged that its police department was one of the best in the country.

The bragging stopped last week.

Federal police arrested the police chief as they investigated the Feb. 2 torture-murder of a retired general hired by Sanchez to command his cleanup. Also, federal prosecutors issued a report alleging that the chief and many of his 1,700 officers worked on the sly for Mexico’s most feared gangsters, the Zetas.

“Whoever is corrupted,â€