Martial Law Ping...
Posted on 06/13/2005 10:33:58 AM PDT by Liberty Valance
Express-News Staff Writers
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — With 41 of this city's police force under arrest in Mexico City on Sunday after a weekend shootout with federal agents, the mayor yanked the rest of the police force off street patrols to avoid another incident.
(Jesse Bogan/Express-News)
People scatter as the Mexican military hauls away 41 Nuevo Laredo police officers.
"The residents are alone," a police commander who asked to remain anonymous said as the grounded officers confined to the station in the wake of Saturday's shooting read newspapers, chatted and stood around looking for something to do. It's unclear how many of the city's officers were pulled off the streets after the melee that left one Mexican federal agent in critical condition and ratcheted tension about drug-cartel violence.
It also was not clear who was responding to emergency calls in the city of about 310,000 or how long the grounded officers would be kept off the streets, but transit officers were allowed to continue with traffic duties, said Oscar Mendoza Arriaga, the police commander.
Mexican army soldiers, who helped arrest the Nuevo Laredo officers, maintained a show of force along the city streets. While some troops manned machine guns mounted on trucks, at least one was using a sniper rifle to sweep rooftops.
Some residents hoped the military would take over law-enforcement duties, as they'd simply lost faith in the ability of the Police Department to ensure law and order.
National politicians from both ends of the political spectrum have referred to Mexico's military as the nation's strongest weapon in the fight against drug cartels.
A beer salesman said he'd welcome martial law.
"It would be better if the army took care of the city," he said. "They do not play around."
Meanwhile, federal authorities are pursuing criminal charges against the 41 arrested police officers involved in the weekend shooting, but believe the shooting may have occurred after local police thought the out-of-town federal agents — who were in civilian clothes and just arrived to help battle cartels — were gangsters trying to pass themselves off as law enforcement.
"We would like to know what happened," said a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office in Mexico City.
In addition to interrogating the officers, who were flown to Mexico City on Saturday and held under heavy guard, federal authorities were conducting ballistics test to learn more about which bullets came from which guns.
As a drug cartel turf war rages in this city, a 21/2-hour drive south of San Antonio, it is common for criminals to wear military or police uniforms to avoid being questioned, and for police to wear civilian clothes to avoid being spotted by criminals.
Intensifying emotions, Nuevo Laredo's new police chief was buried Saturday after being cut down by a hail of bullets earlier in the week, just hours after taking office.
Mayor Daniel Peña said police were apprehensive about whether the federal agents — from the elite agency known as AFI — were legitimate because drug cartel hit men were dressed as AFI agents when they attacked state police officers here a few months ago.
Friends and family of the arrested officers were at City Hall on Sunday to pressure Peña to do more for officers held in Mexico City.
"Everybody wants justice," said Claudia Ramos, 20, whose boyfriend was among the arrested officers. "This was wrong, and they were treated so badly."
City spokesman Ramberto Salinas said the decision to pull police off the streets was the result of an agreement between local and federal authorities.
"We do not want any more problems," he said. "This was done to avoid any more confusion."
But confusion reigned on several fronts, including the condition of a federal agent shot Saturday. The mayor's office had erroneously reported that the agent had been killed in the melee.
AFI agent Feliciano Campos González, who was shot in the face and the chest, remained in a Nuevo Laredo hospital, which was guarded Sunday by men wearing civilian clothes and clutching machine guns.
He was among at least three pickup loads of AFI officers making their way into the city when they apparently stopped at a city-police checkpoint.
An AFI agent said after presenting an ID, the first truck drove through the checkpoint and that the next pickup didn't stop, perhaps drawing the fire.
Agents guarding the Mexico City federal building, where the police were being held, said the shooting was sinister, not accidental.
"The police (in Nuevo Laredo) are bought," said one agent who didn't want to be named, drawing nods of agreement from others.
Nuevo Laredo police officers knew they were aiming at federal officers when they opened fire, the man said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, President Vicente Fox launched Safe Mexico, a program to coordinate state, local and federal efforts to combat cartel violence that is sweeping the nation.
Local officials have complained they are hindered in the fight against the cartels, as it is not their traditional responsibility to fight organized crime.
About 550 people have died so far this year on the Mexican side of the border, with more than half killed in U.S.-Mexico border states, according to the Mexican attorney general's office.
Cartels are fighting to control cities that act as trampolines for sneaking marijuana, cocaine and other drugs into the United States.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- express@cablevision.net.mx Mexico City Bureau Chief Dane Schiller reported from Mexico City. Jesse Bogan of the Express-News Border Bureau reported from Nuevo Laredo.
I think it was more the Nuevo Laredo cops who didn't like the Mexican Army interfering with their drug trafficking protection business.
The toughest part of this whole issue is the El Presidente Fox's employees don't know which uniform to wear to work each day; do they wear their government issue police/military unfirom or do they wear their drug lord/runner uniform. Fox and his wife simply have to be more clear on what the uniform of the day will be. Of course, much of the confusion is caused by gringos and gringo visitors.
I hereby announce my candidacy for the Chief of Police of Nuevo Laredo.
My primary qualification is that I've seen "Walking Tall" three times and think that the techniques learned from watching that movie can help me concquer the corruption from the drug cartels.
(Insert campaign photo of me smiling with a baseball bat in my hands)
NL Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Martial Law Ping...
It's about time. I wonder how long the people will like it, though.
I wish Texas would flush Mexico down the toilet where it belongs.
Coming soon to an American city near you.
http://www.laredotexas.gov/bridge1mexhuge.htm
Intl. bridge-cam
GWBush has had over 4 years to close the border to this crap. The tsunami of drugs, crime, disease, poverty and ignorance has continued, even after 9/11/01. He has turned his back on America in favor of Mexico.
Spirit of competition
The Mexican police don't know which uniform to wear to work each day; do they wear their government issue police/military unfirom or do they wear their drug lord/runner uniform. The Mexican politicos simply have to be more clear on what the uniform of the day will be. Of course, much of the confusion is caused by gringos and gringo visitors.
8 - 40 N or Fight!
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