| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico 
Mexico to Investigate Federal Officers
 Daniel Borunda - El Paso Times
go to original
August 10, 2010
| | Mexico suspends four police commanders for links to drug cartels. (Fox News) | |
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has opened an investigation into allegations of corruption within the federal police in Juárez.
The investigation is in response to an uprising by hundreds of federal police officers on Saturday against some of their commanders, whom they accused of taking money and having connections to drug traffickers.
The commanders were taken into custody at gunpoint, handcuffed and smacked around by their ski-masked subordinates, who claimed corruption was putting their lives at risk.
The Juárez drug cartel has been targeting federal police and publicly claiming they work for the rival Sinaloa drug cartel.
Federal police officials said four commanders accused of corruption were taken to Mexico City in the custody of the Attorney General's Office, or PGR.
Officials said the federal police Council of Honor and Justice, and Internal Affairs are also looking into the criminal allegations.
There is also an investigation of the 248 officers who took part in Saturday's protest to determine any "irregular conduct" on their part. Internal Affairs is an autonomous division within the federal police. The investigation is based out of Mexico City.
There are 4,500 federal police patrolling the streets of Juárez as part of a federal anti-crime effort that has done little to stem daily multiple slayings. Federal police took control of the operation from the Mexican army last spring.
Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said in a statement on Monday that there are no plans for the army to begin patrolling Juárez again. He mentioned that Juárez is divided into patrol zones by the federal police with an independent command structure in each zone.
Despite the presence of thousands of federal police, the violence has continued in the city since a drug cartel war began in 2008. There were a dozen homicides Sunday in the Juárez area.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda(at)elpasotimes.com
|
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us