Thread: Mexico-Top officials vow to go after kidnappers

Top officials vow to go after kidnappers

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 10, 2008

TIJUANA – The battle against organized crime brought Mexico's top federal law enforcement officials to Baja California yesterday, vowing new strategies and intensified efforts against kidnapping rings that have plagued the state in recent months.


NELVIN C. CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Rosarito Beach Police Chief Jorge Montero arrived in Tijuana and was escorted to a meeting amid heightened security. Five members of President Felipe Calderón's Cabinet attended the meeting.


NELVIN C. CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Top Mexican officials met amid tight security near the Tijuana airport to discuss intensified efforts in the fight against organized crime. After the meeting, they vowed to ratchet up efforts against kidnapping rings.
The presence of five members of President Felipe Calderón's Cabinet – the attorney general and the secretaries of defense, public safety, navy and interior – was seen as a critical show of support for state and local authorities struggling to gain control over criminal groups operating in Baja California. The state is a key transit point for drugs smuggled to the United States.

At a news conference after closed-door meetings between the Cabinet members and top Baja California political, business and civic leaders, Gov. José Guadalupe Osuna Millán said the outcome was a commitment to intensified operations against crime, “with special emphasis and rigor in the application of strategies against kidnapping.â€

Vow all you want....means nothing till some serious action is taken.