The week in Mexico
2:00 a.m. December 28, 2008

Train robbery: A gang of about 20 men armed with assault rifles robbed a train in Michoacan state and carted off some of its freight, the state prosecutor's office said yesterday. The gang parked a pickup across the tracks Friday, forcing the Kansas City Southern-operated train traveling from the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas to stop. The thieves may have been after drums of pseudoephedrine, a chemical used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, a state Attorney General's Office official said.

Presidential guard arrest: Prosecutors said a member of the presidential guard was placed under arrest for possibly passing information to the Beltrán Leyva drug cartel in exchange for payments of as much as $100,000. The federal prosecutor's office yesterday identified Arturo González RodrÃ*guez as an army major assigned to the unit that guards the president.

Slain soldiers honored: The government honored eight soldiers beheaded by drug traffickers in a high-profile ceremony in Guerrero state aimed at reassuring the nation that it won't surrender in the battle against crime.
Cockfight arrests: Soldiers arrested Zihautanejo deputy police chief Timoteo Mata Cruz and six officers who were allegedly protecting drug cartel members at a cockfight Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. Fourteen suspected Beltrán Leyva gang members were arrested, and 59 packets of cocaine, 40 bags of marijuana and 20 assault rifles were seized.

Gardener's testimony: A gardener detained with more than a dozen members of an alleged drug trafficking ring testified that police threatened to feed him to lions and tigers during an Oct. 16 raid at a Mexico City mansion. Mexico's former acting federal police chief, Gerardo Garay, is under investigation for allegedly stealing money from the mansion, which had a private zoo with exotic animals. Reforma newspaper said gardener Fernando Maya testified Tuesday that police beat him, gave him electric shocks and threatened to rape his wife if he did not reveal the whereabouts of the owner of the house, who remains at large. Maya claimed police dragged him to cages with lions and tigers and threatened to throw him inside.

Operation Tumbleweed: U.S. authorities broke up a drug-trafficking ring that imported $1 billion in marijuana to Arizona from Sonoyta, Mexico. Operation Tumbleweed led to the indictment of 59 people and 39 arrests of members of the Garibaldi-Lopez drug-trafficking organization on felony charges, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said.

Telmex newscast: Mexican telephone giant Telmex launched a Web-based newscast while it awaits permission from regulatory authorities to enter the country's TV market. The company has set up UNO TV on the Web site of Telmex's Prodigy Media, where it offers a brief news stream twice a day, Monday through Friday.

Boulder blocks road: A huge boulder that fell on the La Rumorosa highway between Mexicali and Tecate on Tuesday was blasted into pieces, allowing traffic to flow more smoothly on the Baja California road.

Compiled from news reports by Foreign Editor David Gaddis Smith: david.smith@uniontrib.com; (619) 293-2211

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