Mexico & Nafta - 10 February 2004

Police problems

Crime & Violence 05 May 2011 Modified: 10 February 2004 181 views

The state government in Chihuahua has confined all its Policía Judicial officers to barracks, following the arrest of the police commander and two of his subordinates on suspicion that they were behind the killings of suspected drug traffickers found buried in a house in Ciudad Juárez on 22 January. So far, 11 bodies have been recovered from the house, which belonged to a known drug smuggler. This drug baron was part of the Cartel de Juárez which used to dominate the cocaine trade with the US.

The federal authorities are stepping in. The office of the federal procuraduría general (PGR) took 16 of the police officers to Mexico City for further questioning. The deputy director of the unit combating organised crime at the PGR, José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, said that the case was extremely serious because it showed that the police had become heavily corrupted and, instead of protecting people, were working for drug traffickers.

The question is whether the complicity goes higher than the police commander, Miguel Angel Loya. He has not been at work for the past couple of days and the state authorities only learnt that he had been taken to Mexico City when the PGR told them. The case could have major political implications: there is a crucial gubernatorial election in the state in July.