- Title: MEXICO: Three arrested after police killings in northern Mexico
- Date: 4th June 2010
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JUNE 3, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FEDERAL POLICE HANGAR EXTERIOR VARIOUS FEDERAL POLICEMEN DURING PRESENTATION ARRESTED MEN ARRIVING AT MEDIA PRESENTATION ESCORTED BY FEDERAL POLICEMEN VARIOUS OF ARRESTED MEN GENERAL VIEW OF PRESENTATION REGIONAL SECURITY CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, LUIS CARDENAS PALOMINO AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REGIONAL SECURITY CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, LUIS CARDENAS PALOMINO, SAYING: "This situation provoked a shootout where three alleged drug traffickers were arrested who responded to the names: Eliud Vazquez Jasso, also know as "El Bufon" (Jester), who is twenty-four-years-old from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Juan Antonio Pintor Lopez, also known as "El Pelon", (Bald) who is twenty-one-years-old and Emilio Silvestre Rodriguez Coronado, who is 20 years-old from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon." VARIOUS OF ARRESTED MEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REGIONAL SECURITY CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL POLICE, LUIS CARDENAS PALOMINO, SAYING: "We are not sure the blockades occurred due to yesterday's shootout but we arrested some members of the Zetas cartel who also fought against us." VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN DURING PRESENTATION ARRESTED MEN VARIOUS OF ARRESTED MEN LEAVING AND BOARDING FEDERAL POLICE ARMORED VEHICLE ESCORTED BY FEDERAL POLICEMEN ARMORED VEHICLE CARRYING ARRESTED MEN LEAVING HANGAR MONTERREY, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO (JUNE 3, 2010) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF PLACE WHERE SHOOTOUT OCCURRED BODY OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS BEHIND TRAILER TRUCK GENERAL VIEW OF SHOOTOUT VEHICLE ABANDONED BY ALLEGED GUNMEN SOLDIERS AND FEDERAL POLICEMEN POLICE VEHICLE WITH BULLET HOLES SOLDIERS LOOKING AT CRIME SCENE SOLDIERS INSPECTING VEHICLE ABANDONED BY ALLEGED GUNMEN VARIOUS OF LOCAL POLICE VEHICLE WITH INJURED POLICEMEN INSIDE VARIOUS OF INJURED POLICEMEN
- Embargoed: 19th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVABVOMVVWIQO23WLH7951GX259M
- Story Text: Three men are arrested after they opened fire at police in northern Mexico at checkpoint, killing two officers.
The Mexican federal police presented three men allegedly working for the Zetas cartel who are accused of killing two federal policemen in northern Mexico, security forces said on Thursday (June 03).
Nuevo Leon state prosecutors said the men tried to escape after being signalled to stop their car for revision on Wednesday (June 02). Men travelling an SUV then opened fire and threw grenades at the police officers.
"This situation provoked a shootout where three alleged drug traffickers were arrested who responded to the names: Eliud Vazquez Jasso, also know as "El Bufon" (Jester), who is twenty-four-years-old from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Juan Antonio Pintor Lopez, also known as "El Pelon", (Bald) who is twenty-one-years-old and Emilio Silvestre Rodriguez Coronado, who is 20 years-old from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon," said regional security chief of the federal police, Luis Cardenas Palomino, during a news conference in Mexico City.
Two policemen died and another one was injured during the shootout. Police seized two weapons, two grenades, cell phones and a radio from the men and are looking for more gunmen in the state of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila.
Two accidents were reported on the highway where the shootout too place, blocking the roads.
"We are not sure the blockades occurred due to yesterday's shootout but we arrested some members of the Zetas cartel who also fought against us," added Palomino.
Drug violence is surging in the northern industrial city of Monterrey and in nearby Reynosa on the U.S border as the powerful Gulf cartel battles its former armed wing, the Zetas.
Black-clad enforcers from the Gulf cartel over the border from Texas are attacking the Zetas, who split away to try to form their own cartel earlier this year.
Made up of elite former soldiers who switched sides to join the Gulf cartel in the 1990s, the Zetas are charging their old bosses taxes to use their routes, provoking almost daily shootouts as the two gangs face off along the border.
Cartel violence has killed some 23,000 people since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his drug war in December 2006. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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