Mexican federal officials return guns to disarmed Tijuana police officers

International Herald Tribune/AP ^ | January 27, 2007

[SwinneySwitch]

TIJUANA, Mexico: The police got their guns back on Saturday in this violent border city three weeks after they were forced to turn over weapons to federal authorities on allegations of collusion with drug traffickers.

Tijuana Public Safety Secretary Luis Javier Algorri said soldiers returned all 2,130 guns to his department.

He planned to send a letter to the attorney general's office asking for the results of the investigation so he can clear up any doubts about his officers. No one from the attorney general's office was available for comment Saturday.

The officers handed in their guns Jan. 4 after President Felipe Calderon sent 3,300 soldiers and federal police to Tijuana to hunt down drug gangs. The soldiers swept police stations and took officers' guns for inspection to see if they had been used to protect smugglers who traffic drugs into the U.S.

The Tijuana police initially stopped patrolling when their guns were taken, saying it was too dangerous, but most later returned to work. In some cases, officers were accompanied by armed state police. Others patrolled in larger numbers than normal. One officer was seen holding a slingshot that he said was for his protection.

Today in Americas Despite crackdown, migrants stream into Mexico On Iran, Bush confronts echoes of Iraq Development at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street spurs Tinseltown renaissance Algorri said the drastic action put the city's safety at risk, and cut in half the number of arrests made in January compared to the same period last year.

Five officers were injured by assailants who took advantage of them being unarmed, Algorri said.

He said the city's police officers were inundated with death threats on their radios and blamed drug gangs.

In several neighborhoods, residents took the law into their own hands, grabbing suspects off the street....

[SwinneySwitch]

"Dubbed "Operation Tijuana," the initiative was part of a major military offensive against drug gangs launched by Calderon, who took office on Dec. 1 promising to crack down on organized crime. Calderon has sent more than 24,000 troops to states plagued by execution-style killings and beheadings as rival gangs fight over marijuana plantations and smuggling routes."

[SwinneySwitch]

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[Eaker]

These people are nuts and corporate America, including Bush wants more of them!

[television is just wrong]

"These people are nuts and corporate America, including Bush wants more of them"

and together corporate America and Bush are going to destroy this country.