MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) --Four Mexican bankers accused of laundering drug
money have been released after a federal court ruled a massive U.S. sting in 1998 was
illegal, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The men, mainly bank branch managers, were released Wednesday after a
court ruled that the U.S. sting was unconstitutional, in part because U.S. agents
tricked the suspects into laundering money, Reforma newspaper reported.

Thursday was a holiday in Mexico, and court officials were not available to
comment.

The men were among 100 people and three Mexican banks indicted in a
two-year investigation by the U.S. Customs Department. They were accused
of laundering $11 million for the Juarez drug cartel.

The 1998 case strained relations with Mexican officials who said they had not
been notified about U.S. operations on Mexican soil.

While Mexico convicted the men of money laundering and sent them to a
Mexican jail, they refused U.S. requests to extradite the suspects.

The men were sentenced to 10 years in prison, but released this week after
serving roughly half of their sentence.

Some of the Mexican bankers were lured to the Las Vegas area after
undercover agents set up a fictional new casino, Casablanca, to attract money
launderers.

Undercover agents invited other bankers to the San Diego area for meetings.
Many of those bankers were convicted or plead guilty to similar charges in the
United States.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.