Posted on 08/17/2010 12:17:58 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MONTERREY Mexico - Suspected drug hitmen have abducted the mayor of a tourist town near Mexico's northern city of Monterrey in the latest surge in drug violence threatening to undermine industry and scare off investors.
Gunmen with automatic weapons burst into Mayor Edelmiro Cavazos' home on Sunday in Santiago, a colonial-era town that is a popular weekend destination for residents of nearby Monterrey, police and officials said.
"He was led out of his house by armed men. He wasn't beaten, he wasn't hand-cuffed or tied up," Alejandro Garza, attorney general of Nuevo Leon state, which includes Monterrey and Santiago, told a news conference.
Nuevo Leon Governor Rodrigo Medina said Cavazos was probably targeted for his efforts to clean up Santiago's corrupt police force. The mayor's family has not received any ransom demands.
The abduction follows a spike in violence over the weekend in northern Mexico, where rival gangs are battling for control of lucrative drug smuggling routes into the United States.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has been defending his crackdown on drugs at home and abroad as the death toll in his 3-1/2-year campaign surpassed 28,000 people and cartels have ratcheted up attacks against police and public officials.
"What is happening in reality is that we are imposing order where there was none. So if you see dust, it is because we are cleaning the house," Calderon wrote in an op-ed in the French newspaper Le Monde on Monday.
Yet there are few signs the cartels are ready to back down.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Would they tell anyone if they did?
Just his head in a paper bag....
is the more likely outcome.
Kidnapped Mexican mayor found dead near Monterrey
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