The arrest of a leading drug trafficker and a prominent mayor in recent days raised intriguing questions about the focus of the federal government’s security strategy in its struggle against organised crime. The capture of the second-in-command of the Beltrán Leyva drug-trafficking organisation (DTO), followed by eye-catching remarks by the country’s foreign minister, suggests that the ‘kingpin strategy’ of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s predecessor Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) is very much alive and kicking. The arrest of a mayor belonging to the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in the troubled western state of Michoacán, meanwhile, was part of a concerted effort by the federal government to remove any excuses ‘self-defence’ groups might have for failing to meet a 10 May deadline to ‘disband’ and enrol in legitimate rural defence corps.End of preview - This article contains approximately 703 words.
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