Mexican city fires 400 cops
May 20th, 2011 - 11:19 am ICT by IANSCiudad Juarez (Mexico), May 20 (IANS/EFE) Some 400 police officers in this Mexican city have been dismissed since last October on suspicion they had ties to organised crime, Mayor Hector Murguia Lardizabal said.
He told a press conference the dismissals were carried out as part of an effort coordinated by new public safety chief Julian Leyzaola, who said the Ciudad Juarez municipal force had been infiltrated by criminal elements.
Juarez, located just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, has 3,000 police officers.
Ciudad Juarez is Mexico’s murder capital, with more than 8,500 homicides since early 2008. Authorities blame the carnage on a brutal turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels.
–IANS/EFE
rd/mj
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Tags: carnage, ciudad juarez mexico, criminal elements, dismissals, drug cartels, el paso, hector, homicides, julian, lardizabal, mj, murder capital, murguia, police officers, public safety, rio grande, safety chief, sinaloa, suspicion, turf war