Authorities arrest 158 police officers in Mexico
19 January AFP - Authorities arrested 158 police officers in two
northern Mexican towns over alleged links to drug traffickers Friday,
forcing the army and state police to fill the security void, prosecutors
said.
The army, federal and state police rounded up 110 municipal officers
in the town of Lerdo and another 48 in neighbouring Gomez Palacio,
including their two chiefs, said Durango state attorney general Sonia de
la Garza Fragoso.
The army and state police had to take over security in both towns
since the remaining municipal officers will undergo training and
background checks to ensure that "links with criminal groups are
eradicated," her office said in a statement.
The massive purge highlights the often cozy relationship between
local police and drug cartels in Mexico, a country plagued by
drug-related violence that has left more than 70,000 dead since 2006.
The powerful Sinaloa cartel controls drug trafficking in the state of
Durango, which has endured a bout of violence in recent months.
The detained officers "are part of a structure within organized
crime," de la Garza told local radio, adding that some of the officers
took part in kidnappings.
Authorities had already stripped the municipal officers of their
weapons to investigate their possible use in crimes.
Some detained officers told investigators that a gang launched a wave
of robberies in the towns last week in a ruse to make residents put
pressure on authorities to return the guns to the municipal cops, de la
Garza said.
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