Polizei schnappt Nr. 3 des „Zetas“-Kartells

Mexiko-Stadt – Der mexikanischen Polizei ist ein weiterer Schlag gegen die Drogen-Kartelle gelungen: Sie nahm ein Führungsmitglied der Bande „Los Zetas“ fest. Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar alias „El Mamito” gilt als Nr. 3 des berüchtigten Killertrupps.

Als die Polizisten ihn am Sonntag in einem Vorort von Mexiko-Stadt festnahmen, leistete er keinen Widerstand.

Die USA hatten eine Belohnung von fünf Millionen Dollar für Hinweise zu seiner Festnahme ausgesetzt.

Der Drogenboss soll mitverantwortlich sein für die Ermordung eines US-Grenzbeamten im Norden Mexikos, sagte ein Vertreter des Ministeriums für öffentliche Sicherheit am Montag. Bei dem Angriff vom Februar war ein zweiter US-Beamter schwer verletzt worden.

„El Mamito“ war seit Anfang der 90er Jahre selbst Elitesoldat gewesen, desertierte dann aber im Februar 1999. Er wurde Mitbegründer des Kartells „Los Zetas“ und soll nach Polizeiangaben die Geschäfte der Verbrecherbande in Zentral- und Nordmexiko geführt haben.

Erst im April hatte die mexikanische Polizei den mutmaßlichen Kopf der Killerbande, Martín Omar Estrada Luna , genannt „El Kilo“ geschnappt, sowie weitere fünf Verdächtige.
Die Mitglieder der „Zetas“ liefern sich seit dem vergangenen Jahr im nordmexikanischen Bundesstaat Tamaulipas einen blutigen Kampf mit dem Golf-Kartell um die Vorherrschaft im Drogengeschäft.

SCHIESSEREI

Am Montag lieferten sich Kriminelle im Grenzgebiet zu den USA mit mexikanischen Soldaten eine Schießerei. Laut Armeeangaben wurden dabei 13 Verbrecher getötet.

Die Schießerei begann, als eine Militärpatrouille am Montagmittag in der Grenzstadt Rio Bravo angegriffen wurde. Anschließend beschlagnahmten die Soldaten sieben Fahrzeuge mit Waffen und nahmen einen Mann mit einem Sturmgewehr fest.

Die Region ist einer der Schwerpunkte des Drogen-Kriegs: Von den 50 000 Soldaten, die in Mexiko gegen die Rauschgiftmafia im Einsatz sind, befinden sich mehr als 4000 in Tamaulipas.

Offiziellen Angaben zufolge wurden allein seit dem Amtsantritt von Präsident Felipe Calderón im Dezember 2006 mehr als 37 000 Menschen im mexikanischen Drogenkrieg getötet.

Quelle: bild.de

Mexico troops enter drug war city

More than 1,500 Mexican troops have moved into a city on the US border being fought over by rival drug gangs.

Soldiers moved into Ciudad Juarez to try to regain control of a city in which more than 2,000 people have been murdered over the past year.

Officials say they intend to have 7,000 troops and police in position by the end of the week.

Rival gangs are battling for control of the city, which is a key entry point for drug smuggling into the US.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said the troops were there in support of the local authorities.

"Ciudad Juarez worries us deeply," he said in an interview with Reuters news agency.

"It is the reason why there is a response by the federal government to support the request of local authorities. Public safety is a shared responsibility among the federal, state governments and municipalities."

He added: "In areas where drug traffickers have a lot of influence, sadly there is a risk that they will have an interest in influencing the formation of public power, particularly the local authority. This is something that concerns us."

Police chief quit

Last month, the police chief in Ciudad Juarez, Roberto Orduna, stepped down after drugs gangs threatened to kill at least one police officer every two days until he quit.

Mayor Jose Reyes had earlier insisted the city would not back down to criminal gangs.

But after a police officer and a prison guard were killed, he said Mr Orduna's departure was the only way the authorities could protect policemen.

Speaking after the latest deployment of troops in his city, Mr Reyes said the army and the local authorities were working together to help the troops work with local police and residents.

Mexico rejects US drugs warning

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has rejected US concern that his country could become a failed state because of a growing wave of drug violence.

Mr Calderon, in an interview with the Associated Press, said the cartels did not control any part of his country.

He said that he intended to withdraw the army from the fight before he leaves office in 2012.

Last month, the US military singled out Mexico and Pakistan as two countries most at risk of sudden collapse.

More than 1,000 people are reported to have been killed in Mexico so far this year as gangs battle over lucrative drug routes into the US.

But President Calderon said that Mexico's territorial integrity, unlike Colombia's, was still intact.

"To say that Mexico is a failed state is absolutely false. I have not lost any part, any single point, of the Mexican territory," he said.

"Colombia lost [territory] during several decades… and even today huge parts of its territory [are] in the hands of the criminals, or the guerrillas, or some combination of drug traffickers and guerrillas.

"But in Mexico, all the territory is in the hands of the Mexican authorities."

US demand

Mr Calderon said that smuggling could not be totally eradicated as long as Americans continued to use drugs.

But he said he hoped that by 2012 the cartels would be worn down to a point where the army and federal police could withdraw and leave the problem in the hands of local police.

A report published in January by the United States Joint Forces Command called Mexico and Pakistan "two large and important states [which] bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse".

Mr Calderon sent troops and federal police into drug strongholds on his first day in office in December 2006.

But violence has increased, with more than 5,000 people killed in drug-related incidents in 2008.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora, in a separate interview with AP, said that 90% of those killed were involved in the drugs trade, while only 4% were innocent bystanders. The rest, he said, were police officers and soldiers.

Mr Calderon called on Washington to do more, by stopping the flow of drugs cash and powerful US assault weapons into Mexico.

He applauded cross-border operations that US officials said culminated this week with the arrests of 755 Sinaloa cartel members and the seizure of $59m (£41m) in the US.

But he acknowledged that Mexico could not be President Barack Obama's top priority, saying the US would help Mexico most by fixing its own economic crisis.

He said Latin American leaders had high hopes for President Obama's first trip to the region at the Summit of the Americas in April.

"President Barack Obama has a tremendous opportunity to recover the leadership of the United States," he said.