Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over 80 guns and automatic rifles in his house

Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over 80 guns and automatic rifles in his house, setting off a political furor.

Soldiers acting on a tip burst into the Tijuana home of Jorge Hank, 55, a former mayor and a pillar of the Mexico's former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party's establishment, and detained him and 10 employees in the early hours of Saturday morning. On Sunday, Mr. Hank was flown to Mexico City and was being questioned by police officials in charge of investigating organized crime.

Mr. Hank's detention sparked demonstrations in his favor by supporters in Tijuana, as well as a flurry of angry statements from PRI party barons.

In a letter written to Mexico's human rights commission, Mr. Hank claimed Sunday he had been set up by the army after eight hooded men burst into his bedroom as he slept. "Around 5 am, they told me to stand by some weapons that were on the floor and they took photographs," he wrote in the letter which was shown on Mexican television channel Milenio TV. "The weapons were on the floor and I had never seen them before nor do I recognize them."

Mr. Hank's lawyer Oscar Téllez did not immediately return a telephone call left at his office. Earlier, Mr. Téllez told reporters he had not been able to consult with his client, and Mr. Hank's wife told reporters the guns, which according to Mexico's Defense Ministry included 48 automatic rifles, had been legally acquired.

"We will not allow political witch hunts, repressive acts or intimidation," said PRI president Humberto Moreira. Mr. Hank is closely linked to the PRI's political machine in the State of Mexico where the party's candidate for governor, Eruviel Ávila is poised to win the governor's seat in key elections next month. The state of Mexico elections will serve as a run-up to next year's presidential election in which the PRI's presumed candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, the current governor of the state, also holds a wide lead in the polls over potential rivals.

Mr. Ávila's campaign manager quickly distanced the candidate from Mr. Hank. "There is not one cent of Mr. Jorge Hank Rhon's money in the campaign of Eruviel Ávila," said campaign manager Luis Videgaray.

In a statement, the ruling conservative National Action or PAN party defended Mr. Hank's detention and said the government was simply applying the law and preventing acts of "impunity."

But despite the PAN's disclaimers, some analysts did see an overt political motive in Mr. Hank's detention. "This is a scalp that President Felipe Calderón wants to hang on his wall before he leaves office," said George Grayson, an expert on Mexican politics at the College of William and Mary. "I suspect it's the first of several scalps he will place on his wall before elections as a way of discrediting the PRI."

Mr Grayson said Mr. Hank was an easy target. "He doesn't have a closet full of skeletons, he has a warehouse full of skeletons," he said.

A self-proclaimed billionaire, whose company Grupo Caliente, or "Hot Group," operates a Tijuana dog track as well as a string of casinos and off-track betting parlors all over the country, Mr. Hank is one of Mexico's most colorful—and notorious—politicians. The father of 19 children, Mr. Hank is also known for operating a private zoo stocked with exotic animals.

Mr. Hank has been the frequent target of accusations of political corruption, drug ties and even of murder. His bodyguard and another employee were convicted for the 1988 killing of a reporter who worked for Tijuana's investigative weekly Zeta magazine. In full page advertisements, Zeta still continues to accuse Mr. Hank of being the mastermind behind the murder, although Mr. Hank was never charged with the murder.

A 2009 WikiLeaks cable signed by the U.S. consul in Tijuana says "Hank is widely believed to have been a corrupt mayor and to be still involved in narco-trafficking." The cable recounts how Baja California state police refused to follow an alleged drug trafficker who took refuge in Mr. Hank's Tijuana dog racing track, right across from the consulate. "There are still plenty of safe havens for organized crime in the border region," the diplomatic cable says.

In the past, Mr. Hank has said accusations against him are lies.

The former mayor is the son of the late legendary PRI politician Carlos Hank, known as "The Professor." The late Mr. Hank rose from being a humble school teacher to being governor of the state of Mexico as well as mayor of Mexico City. He is most remembered for coining a famous aphorism, which described the corruption of the PRI, the political party that ran Mexico for seven decades before losing power in 2000: "A politician who is poor is a poor politician."