Twenty-three people murdered in Mexico on Good Friday

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
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Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

El universal (Mexico City)


1. Twenty-three people murdered on Good Friday

Organized crime took center stage on Good Friday in one of the most violent day's work of the year with the murders of 23 people in various parts of the country. A group of gunmen entered the office of the Justice Department in Jerequaro, Guanajuato and killed four agents. One of the killers died while trying to escape. The confrontation also left two agents wounded. In Acambaro, Guanajuato a transit policeman was shot when he stopped a vehicle. Zitacuaro, Michoacan was the site of another execution with an AK-47 assault rifle. In Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua a couple in a motel died from more than 100 shots while in another part of the city three more people were executed by shots to the head. In another area, two more were murdered and the body of another victim was found in the downtown area. Two more bodies, one thought to be a police officer who resigned last month, were found in another neighborhood. In San Agustin, Nuevo Leon a man was murdered in a bar and another was assassinated by six shots to the head in downtown Cancun, Quintana Roo. More than 40 armed men in black uniforms killed four people and wounded a child in El Pozo, north of Culiacan, Jalisco. The body of the woman reported yesterday found near the military compound in Reynosa, Tamaulipas adds to the count.

2. A cell working for narcotrafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was learned to be operating on the premises of the Mexico City International Airport. An investigation is underway to locate members of organization that uses the terminal as a point of receiving and sending shipments of drugs.

3. A unofficial poll taken by a Mexico City newspaper asked people who they would like to see in the White House. It also asked which candidate would be best for Mexico. The results favored Clinton with 47%; Obama, 27% and McCain 8%. There was no mention who got the remaining 18%. (In an op/ed earlier this month in Cambio de Michoacan, the columnist noted that Mexico is more concerned with U.S. presidential elections than its own because U.S. policies have more effect on them.)

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El Financiero (Mexico Ciity) 3/22/08

The Center for Border Studies and Promotion of Human Rights (Cefprodhac) pointed out that the greatest number of homicides along the Tamaulipas/Texas border occur in Reynosa, with at least 60% of the total. Of the 37 homicides this year in that area, 26 were related to narcotraffic.

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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 3/22/08

In Veracruz, the chief of a police unit was killed by a subject he was chasing on foot after stopping his car for inspection. When he spotted firearms, he attempted to make an arrest of the occupants. When one of them tried to escape, the officer gave chase, caught him and in the struggle that followed, the man shot the officer three times, killing him. Authorities released no further details.

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El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) and El Diario en Linea (Chihuahua)

The Chief of Pollice in Palomas, Chihuahua is seeking asylum in the U.S. after his police force resigned in fear of threats from organized crime. (Yesterday's report) His request is pending with U.S. authorities.

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