Public Security News from Mexico Share This /

Chihuahua

• Federal Police announced the arrest of Juarez cartel leader Marco Guzman, known as “El Brad Pitt.” In reference to the bizarre nickname, a spokeswoman for the police explained, "it's a name given to the man by his associates. I guess they think he looks like him."

Districto Federal

• 11 police officers were injured in Mexico City when an angry mob demanded that the police hand over four alleged thieves. When officers tried to remove the suspects, the crowd grew violent and attacked the patrol cars with rocks.
• Mexico's attorneys general have teamed up with their counterparts in Guatemala to fight the Zetas. The Attorney General’s Office released a statement saying that both governments have agreed "to create concrete mechanisms for quickly exchanging timely information for the fight against the Zetas organization and others.”
• The Mexican government has initiated a new public relations campaign to correct 10 “myths” about the drug war. InSight Crime’s Elyssa Pachico questions the data used by the Calderon administration to defend its claim that killing or capturing drug kingpins does not lead to increased violence.

Nuevo Leon

• At least 33 people were killed in Monterrey on Wednesday, making June 15 the city’s
  bloodiest day on record. Jorge Domene Zambrano, spokesman for the Nuevo Leon Security Council, attributed the killings to the battle for territorial control among drug trafficking organizations.
• Among the victims on Wednesday were two bodyguards of the governor of Nuevo Leon. The bodies were dumped near a supermarket along with a note saying that the two men had taken money from the Zetas drug cartel. The killers also left a message for the governor, Rodrigo Medina, warning him, “let’s see where the hell you can hide.” Despite these attempts to intimidate him, Governor Medina remained defiant and promised that "the threats won't stop me from fighting for a safe Nuevo Leon.”
• After receiving an anonymous tip, the military rescued seven kidnapping victims from a minivan in Nuevo Leon on Monday, June 13. Five of the victims were abducted from a party three days earlier, while two were university students from Monterrey.
• Unidentified gunmen killed five members of a family in Ciudad Juarez. According to witnesses, five men went to the family’s house in search of a person. When the family said they didn’t know the person’s location, the men shot and killed everyone in the house. The victims included two women, one teenager, and two young children.
• A cartel member spoke with the Houston chronicle about the Zetas’ gruesome tactics. According to the man, known only as “Juan,” the Zetas have begun kidnapping bus passengers and forcing them to fight for their lives in gladiator-style death matches. Juan says they kill for nothing more than “amusement.”

Tabasco

• Two men were killed after refusing to stop at a checkpoint on a federal highway. Federal security forces fired on the fleeing truck, resulting in the deaths of both occupants.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey.