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Mexico's Calderon reshuffling top cops in drug war
03 Aug 2008 20:35:34 GMT
 Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon is shaking up the top level of the attorney general's office as he struggles to combat powerful drug gangs that have killed 1,900 people this year, a government official said on Sunday.

One of Mexico's top crime fighters, Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, and five other top security officials are resigning, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He declined to say if they were asked to quit.

Santiago Vasconcelos, a veteran police chief who worked at the attorney general's office for 20 years, was a driving force behind the battle against drug cartels. He was in charge of extraditions of drug lords to the United States.

Calderon made drug fighting a cornerstone of his administration as he took office in December 2006, but despite his army-backed crusade against traffickers, the cartels remain strong and violence is on the rise.

In recent months, police chiefs have been ambushed and killed in brutal attacks while children and families are increasingly becoming victims.

The source said Calderon will appoint the replacements of the six officials in coming days.

Mexico's main drug gangs, the Gulf cartel and a group of traffickers from the western state of Sinaloa, are at war with each other and the security forces. Adding to the mayhem, several factions within drug gangs are also fighting for power. About 1,900 people have been killed in fighting this year. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz; Editing by Eric Walsh)


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Jalapeno peppers for sale are displayed at a market in Mexico City July 22, 2008. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found a jalapeno pepper contaminated with a strain of ...


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Last updated:Sun Aug 3 20:38:11 2008