The federal attorney general's office in Mexico has formally accused 21 Tijuana law enforcement officers, including five commanders, of providing protection to the Arellano Felix cartel.
The federal court on Sunday approved the government's request to formally arrest the officers, 19 of whom were from the municipal police department and the other two state agents assigned to Tijuana.
The officers were suspended in mid-November and taken to Mexico City while they were under investigation.
The attorney general's office says they have been a penitentiary in Tepic.
