Thread: Mexico charges police officer with killing 24

Mexico charges police officer with killing 24

Alleged cartel member also accused in massacre outside Mexico City

MEXICO CITY - A municipal police commander and an alleged drug cartel member have been charged with homicide in the September massacre of 24 men outside Mexico City.

The Attorney General's Office said it also lodged organized crime and drug charges against policeman Antonio Ramirez Cervantes and alleged trafficker Raul Villa Ortega.

The charges, announced Thursday, follow the execution-style killing of 24 men whose bodies were found bound with duct tape and shot in the head on Sept. 12 in a rural area west of Mexico City.

Cervantes served as police commander of a nearby town and allegedly helped Villa Ortega kidnap and kill the victims, many of whom were believed to be rival drug dealers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27947693/

Nearly half of Mexican cops fail police tests

By MARK STEVENSON, The Associated Press 6:50 p.m. November 27, 2008

MEXICO CITY — Almost half of Mexican police officers examined this year have failed background and security tests, a figure that rises to nearly 9 of 10 cops in the border state of Baja California, the government reported Thursday.
The number of officers scoring a "not recommendable" rating on the tests averaged 49 percent nationwide, well above the 42 percent who got a "recommendable" rating.

The tests – which involved lie detectors, drug tests, pyscohological profiling and tests of personal wealth, among other measures – were intended to root out corrupt, incompetent and unfit officers. The report did not break down how many officers failed each category.

In Baja California, home to the border city of Tijuana, some 89 percent of police tested failed, and only 4 percent were judged "recommendable." Officers there have been periodically disarmed, detained and investigated by federal investigators and army troops on suspicion of aiding drug traffickers.

The report comes amid a continuing federal investigation that in recent weeks has revealed the worst corruption scandal in Mexican law enforcement in a decade, with more than a dozen high-ranking officials – including the country's top anti-drug prosecutor – detained on suspicion of passing security information to drug cartels.

The test have been administered to more than 56,000 state and municipal policemen so far this year, President Calderon told Congress on Thursday.

Of those, about 27,700 were deemed unfit for police work, and 23,380 were approved.

As many as two-thirds of police failed security tests in a half dozen states. It was unclear whether they would be subject to further investigation, retraining or dismissal.
Mexico has about 375,000 police officers at all levels.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ndex=16764