El-Watan, quoting unnamed sources close to the case, said justice officials were investigating an allegation that the son of Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz was involved in laundering drug money.

“The Prosecutor-General.... at the Oran court formally denies any involvement or judicial charges with regard to the son of the Justice Minister,” the prosecutor-general’s office in Oran, western Algeria, said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

It said there had been a case of mistaken identity, and the newspaper had confused the minister’s son with someone with the same family name from the Oran region who had been detained on charges related to drug trafficking.

The newspaper allegation was the latest in a series of reports linking senior Algerian officials - some with ties to Bouteflika - to criminal activity.  A Justice Ministry spokeswoman did not comment on the report. Representatives of the minister’s son could not be reached for comment.

El-Watan reported that the minister’s son, whom it did not name, was being investigated on the basis of information from a drug trafficker arrested in Oran.

The paper did not make clear whether the allegation related to current or past activity, and did not allege any wrongdoing by the minister.

Algerian authorities have already launched corruption investigations into top executives at state energy firm Sonatrach and senior officials at the Ministry of Public Works.

Sonatrach was controlled by close allies of the president until most of the senior executives were fired and replaced by politically neutral technocrats.

The public works ministry is still run by allies of the president though some senior ministry officials have been dismissed and placed under investigation.

Justice Minister Belaiz is also seen as a Bouteflika associate. His job is one of a handful of portfolios appointed directly by the president rather than by the prime minister.

Bouteflika’s officials say he approved investigations into corruption in state-run institutions because he is determined to crack down on graft.

But a former Algerian prime minister told Reuters he believed the investigations were part of a political turf war between Bouteflika’s supporters and a rival faction inside the ruling elite. Political analysts say that Bouteflika, who is 73 and is serving his third term, was politically weakened by a reshuffle in May that led to the departure of his close ally, Chakib Khelil, who was energy minister.