MEXICO REDUCES DRUG KINGPINS' SENTENCES

MEXICO CITY -- A Mexican tribunal has slashed the sentences of two
brothers convicted in 2004 of heading a drug cartel that smuggled
tons of methamphetamines into the United States, the Federal Attorney
General's Office said Thursday.

Jose de Jesus Amezcua, dubbed "the amphetamine king," had his
sentence reduced to 28 years from 53 years nine months on appeal, the
office said. His brother Adan Amezcua had his sentence reduced to
nine years and six months from 22 years.

ADVERTISEMENT The attorney general's office did not explain why the
sentences were reduced, and the federal tribunal that made the
decision could not be immediately reached for comment. Mexican courts
often change criminal sentences on appeal.

Investigators say the Amezcua gang illegally imported ephedrine from
Europe, India and Pakistan through Mexican ports and used it to
manufacture the stimulant methamphetamine in western Mexico.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the brothers'
organization also supplied methamphetamine labs in the United States.

A third brother, Luis Ignacio, was sentenced to 49 years in prison in
September.

In June 1998, a California federal grand jury indicted Jose de Jesus
and Luis Ignacio Amezcua on charges of manufacturing and distributing
methamphetamine, conspiracy to possess ephedrine and continuing a
criminal enterprise.

The Amezcua brothers maintain their innocence.