Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Mexican police chief quits after officers killed
20 Feb 2009 23:44:06 GMT
 Source: Reuters
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The police chief of one of the most violent cities on Mexico's northern border quit on Friday after drug gangs vowed to kill a police officer every 48 hours until he resigned.

Drug hitmen killed the deputy police chief in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday and another officer on Friday and left messages on their bodies warning they would murder more officers, police said.

"Don't be mistaken, enemies of Mexico. The decision I am taking is an intelligent one of life over death," police chief Roberto Orduna told a news conference in the city, where violence has reached giddy levels.

Orduna, a former soldier, took over the municipal police in Ciudad Juarez last year. The city saw an unprecedented 1,600 people killed in drug violence in 2008 as President Felipe Calderon's army-backed war on drug gangs sparked fresh turf wars between rival cartels across the country.

Calderon has begun putting senior military staff in charge of Mexico's ill-equipped, poorly paid municipal police to try and clean up forces that are deeply infiltrated by drug cartels fighting over smuggling routes to the United States.

Ciudad Juarez is the bloodiest front in Calderon's two-year-old fight against the cartels. Government officials say Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, is battling with the Juarez cartel for control of the city and killing corrupt cops working with rivals.

More than 50 police officers were murdered in Ciudad Juarez last year.

Calderon has sent some 45,000 troops and federal police across Mexico to fight drug gangs, but the death toll from drug violence soared to 6,000 people last year. (Reporting by Julian Cardona; writing by Robin Emmott; editing by todd Eastham)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Five things
WV - USA

•  UMCOR Hotline for February 17, 2009
UMCOR - USA

•  UMCOR Hotline for February 10, 2009
UMCOR - USA

•  The UMCOR Hotline for February 3, 2009
UMCOR - USA

•  CWS-supported recovery groups highlighted in report praising Katrina recovery work
CWS

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Mexican police chief quits after officers killed

•  US says expects allies' commitment for Afghanistan

•  Most wars hit world's rich wildlife areas - study

•  US says alarmed by latest IAEA report on Iran

•  Netanyahu asked to form Israel's next government

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Background information

Facts & figures
Mexico United States of America

Related articles

Breaking stories
 Mexican police chief quits after officers killed (1 minute ago)

US says expects allies' commitment for Afghanistan (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 ANALYSIS: Global downturn to shrink climate funds for poor nations (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Five things (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Europe's half-hearted plan to finance climate action (1 minute ago)

Maps
 MAP: GLOBAL FEWS NET Food Security Outlook - October 2008 to March 2009 (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-02-20T021703Z_01_SIN912_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRANTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SIN912.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-02-20T020533Z_01_SIN909_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRANTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SIN909.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-02-20T020242Z_01_SIN908_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRANTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SIN908.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-02-20T015922Z_01_SIN907_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRANTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SIN907.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-02-20T015604Z_01_SIN906_RTRIDSP_2_MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRANTS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SIN906.htm

A former 'bracero', temporary contract labor farm worker in the United States, waits at a government office to cash a check in Jalpa, central Mexico January 14, 2009. Mexicans are having ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Feb 20 23:45:46 2009