A new group of more than 1,400 customs officials -- around double the number employed before -- had been carefully vetted and trained to use firearms, the country's Tax Administration Service said in a statement.

The agents began work Sunday at the country's 49 customs posts, it added.

The former inspectors had not been fired, but their contracts had expired, said a ministry official, declining to be named.

Some of them were found to be linked to contraband operations, according to sources at the interior ministry.

Agents in Nuevo Laredo, on the border with the southern US state of Texas, were called in late Saturday to be told they were leaving, and to hand in their badges and weapons, unofficial sources said.

"The new agents are trained following the new commitment of the customs authorities," under a five-year modernization plan to improve security which began in 2007, the tax administration statement said.

The main aim of the shake-up was to tackle tax evasion, but Mexico has also stepped up efforts to search for guns smuggled in by drug traffickers from the United States in the midst of a raging war on organized crime.

"They now have more modern detection equipment which has shown significant improvements in customs checks, transparency in the entry and exit of passengers and merchandise, and reinforcing national security," the statement said.

Corruption is rife in Mexico, particularly among police and other officials, and authorities underlined new efforts to clean up customs operations.

The new employees were aged between 18 and 30, and more than 70 percent had a university education, the statement said.

They had undergone psychological and drug tests, as well as checks to ensure they had no previous criminal records, it added.

Soldiers temporarily took over control of border and customs posts, including at airports and maritime ports, to assist in the changeover, and collected documents and weapons to hand over to the new agents, an official said.

Violence linked to the rampant traffic of drugs across Mexico's vast 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border with the United States has spiralled since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on drug gangs in December 2006.

Almost 10,000 people have died in suspected drug violence across the country, particularly in border areas, since the start of 2008.

During a visit to Mexico last week, US President Barack Obama praised Calderon for his controversial crackdown, which involves more than 36,000 troops.

The United States has pledged around 1.6 billion dollars to tackle drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America under the Merida Initiative, which also includes funds for training and equipment to boost security on the Mexican side of the border.

The Obama administration has acknowledged the US role in the violence, pledging to stem the flow of weapons into Mexico and curb demand for drugs in the United States, one of the world's top cocaine consumers.

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