MEXICO: Authorities extend anti-drug fight to border states

Record ID: 303991

  • Title: MEXICO: Authorities extend anti-drug fight to border states
  • Date: 19th February 2007
  • Summary: (BN02) MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (FEBRUARY 18, 2007) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF PRESS CONFERENCE VENUE MEDIA AWAITS START OF PRESS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITE (Spanish) MEXICAN INTERIOR SECRETARY FRANCISCO RAMIREZ SAYING: "Today we are announcing two new operations requested by the governors of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León states. This is a new effort against organized crime in these states. More than 2,600 police and military personnel will take part." JOURNALISTS AT PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVA2VC5HM0BGQ3SP2FGQ0JSIT5G4
  • Story Text: Mexico is sending thousands of police and military personnel to two states bordering Texas in its fight against brutal drug gangs, Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna said Sunday (February 18) during a press conference in Mexico City.
    "Today we are announcing two new operations requested by the governors of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León states. This is a new effort against organized crime in these states. More than 2,600 police and military personnel will take part," said Ramirez.
    Security forces will step up operations in the northeastern states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, and Navy vessels will patrol the Gulf coast for drug shipments.
    Tamaulipas is home to the infamous Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico 's two main drug smuggling gangs. Nuevo Leon 's normally placid capital Monterrey has been rocked by the narco murders of at least 14 active or former police officers this year.
    During the same press conference on Sunday (February 18) , Mexico's Attorney General Eduardo Medina announced that Mexican authorities seized over three thousand kilos of pseudoephedrine, a chemical commonly used in nasal decongestants but also coveted by drug traffickers who use it to manufacture methamphetamine.
    "I'd like to inform you that we've seized 3,413 kilos of pseudoephedrine at Mexico City's International Airport. The chemical, was packed in 120 drums. The shipment originated in Hamburg. It then went to Paris and arrived in Mexico City in recent days. At least eight people have been arrested by customs, police and drug enforcement agents," said Medina.
    The diversion of over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine is one of the major contributing factors to methamphetamine abuse in the United States.
    More than 2,000 people were killed last year in a feud between the Gulf Cartel and an alliance of drug traffickers from the western state of Sinaloa. Many of the victims were tortured and beheadings are common.
    Mexico extradited jailed Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas to Texas last month to face charges of drug trafficking and assaulting and threatening U.S. guards.
    A senior U.S. anti-drug official told Reuters last week that while Calderon has made a strong start in the fight against drugs, he needs to do more to combat the Sinaloa alliance, headed by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
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