‘Contradictions’ keep Grammy Award-winning singer Ramon Ayala in police custody in Mexico

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The Grammy Award-winning norteno singer Ramon Ayala faces some tragos amargos (bitter drinks) of his own these days.

Taken into police custody last week in the Mexican City suburb of Tepoztlan, Ayala had been performing at a party where alleged drug traffickers were in attendance. Ayala and his associates with the Bravos del Norte band were rounded up and asked about their involvement. The federal attorney general’s office said ‘contradictions’ in Ayala and his colleagues’ testimony led to a decision to deepen the inquiry.

The so-called King of the Accordion, who lives in Hidalgo, Texas, this week was ordered held for up to 40 days pending further investigation. His lawyer denied any wrongdoing or connection to organized crime.

Authorities said at least 11 suspected members of the drug cartel run by kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva were detained when the military raided the Dec. 11 party at a mansion in Tepoztlan. Leads helped authorities zone in on Beltran Leyva, who was killed in a shootout Wednesday with naval infantry forces in the city of Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City.

You can visit Ayala’s official website at www.ramonayala.org. To read a report in Spanish about his arrest, try www.milenio.com/node/343407.

-- Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City