Mexican Army to help police fight violence

By Omar Millán González
3:04 p.m. February 6, 2009

TIJUANA — Following several high-profile busts, the Mexican Army is stepping up its battle against organized crime in this region.

The city's director of Public Safety, Julián Leyzaola, announced this week that the Army would begin joint operations with local police in the most violent neighborhoods.

That's a change, given that the military has largely steered clear of working directly local police.

On Wednesday, Mexican soldiers rescued eight people who had been kidnapped and were being held at a ranch east of the city after a shootout that claimed the life of one of the suspected kidnappers.

Last month, the Army confiscated drugs and more than $1 million from a house in the La Mesa district and, in another operation, arrested three people suspected in the kidnapping of transportation entrepreneur Gregorio Barreto.

The army also captured Santiago Meza, who is accused of dissolving more than 300 victims in vats of acid and burying their remains, and two other men believed to be associates of Eduardo GarcÃ*a Simental “El Teo,â€