Thread: Mexico police chief, 10 others killed by gunmen

Mexico police chief, 10 others killed by gunmen

24 Aug 2008, 0437 hrs IST,AFP

PACHUCA: The Hidalgo state police chief was kidnapped and shot to death, a police officer was killed in southeastern Tabasco state and nine people were murdered in northern Chihuahua state, local officials said on Saturday.

The relentless killing spree in Mexico has claimed the lives of more than 2,700 people so far this year, despite a crackdown by authorities against drug trafficking and kidnapping gangs and organized crime in general.

In the latest violence, Hidalgo state police chief Raymundo Zamorano was kidnapped at gunpoint while patrolling the streets of Pachuca in his official car late on Friday, state public safety secretary Damian Canales said.

Zamorano's bullet-riddled body was found on Saturday 60 kilometers (96 miles) outside the city, he added.

Another police officer was gunned down outside a police station in the Tabasco capital of Villahermosa by hitmen in three pickup trucks, a state public safety official told radio Formato 21. Another police officer was wounded in the shooting.

In Chihuahua state, where most of the killings take place, nine people were killed on Saturday, eight of them in the Ciudad Juarez, state officials reported.

Violence has escalated throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon, who took office at the end of 2006, launched a crackdown on drug trafficking that included deploying more than 36,000 soldiers across the country.

Ciudad Juarez -- across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas -- has the highest murder toll of the country this year, with 867 killed, according to a count.

The Juarez drug cartel is fighting a turf war for control of Chihuahua state and its key drug routes to the United States with the Sinaloa cartel, from the neighbouring state further south.

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The Juarez drug cartel is fighting a turf war for control of Chihuahua state and its key drug routes to the United States with the Sinaloa cartel, from the neighbouring state further south.

And the U.S. government thinks they are doing a good job at stopping terrorist. Drug cartels are a terrorist with a mission.

The Juarez drug cartel is fighting a turf war for control of Chihuahua state and its key drug routes to the United States with the Sinaloa cartel, from the neighbouring state further south.

And the U.S. government thinks they are doing a good job at stopping terrorist. Drug cartels are a terrorist with a mission.