Authorities have said that a former Cancun mayor running for higher office has been arrested on money-laundering charges and linked to drug runners.

McClatchy Newspapers have reported that the Mexican Attorney General's Office alleged Wednesday George Sanchez Martinez, a candidate for governor of Quintana Roo, the Caribbean state where Cancun is located, has ties to the Beltran Leyva and Los Zetas drug cartels. Sanchez was arrested at the resort city's airport on Tuesday, the office said.

The candidate had moved millions of dollars in suspicious funds through his bank accounts, Attorney General's Office spokesman Ricardo Najera said.

Najera said, "We are certain that many people around him are also involved."

Jesus Ortega Martinez of the Revolutionary Democratic Party that backs Sanchez accused the government of using the charges to seek political advantage.

Ortega Martinez said, "We will not permit, and we should not permit for the health of the country, that judicial processes be utilized for political ends." (With Inputs from Agencies)