Forecast chief quits
Slayings for week reach 21
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/17/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


Juárez's top public safety official, Guillermo Prieto Quintana, is stepping down and will be replaced Monday by a retired military officer in an attempt to change strategies to stop a wave of drug-related violence.
Prieto Quintana's resignation, which had been expected, was announced by Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz on Friday, a day when at least four more homicides occurred, including three men slain before dawn outside Hospital Juárez.

As of Friday, 21 people had been slain in Juárez this week.

Reyes Ferriz would not identify the military official who will become the new public safety secretary and will oversee the 1,600-member municipal police force.

The appointee's name and further details, including a possible restructuring of the police department, would be released Monday, the mayor said in a news release.

More than a dozen Juárez police officers have been killed this year, including police director Juan Antonio Roman Garcia, who was gunned down a week ago today.

Death threats had been made against Prieto Quintana, who had stopped making public appearances and, as a precaution, was meeting with police commanders only in secret.

The mayor denied that Prieto Quintana's resignation came because of the threats.

Around 300 homicides, many linked to a war among Mexican drug traffickers, have occurred in Juárez so far this year.

The violence continued Friday, including a shooting about 5:30 a.m. aimed at four men riding in a black Hummer on Avenida
Tecnologico, police said
The wounded men drove to Hospital Juárez where they were again attacked. Two men died at the hospital. One died outside.

The fourth was hospitalized in critical condition. Investigators identified the dead as Gerardo Rodriguez Alanis, 33; Hugo Duarte Figueroa, 21; and Jesus Covarrubias Renteria, 53.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;

546-6102.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9288957