Mexico troops enter drug war city

BBC ^ | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Mexico troops enter drug war city

Mexico hopes to have up to 7,000 troops in the city in a few days

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."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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.

[mgc1122]

I can tell you 7,000 troops is insufficient for what is needed in this one town.

[Bobalu]

I will be over in Juarez in a few days...will try to get some footage of mexican troops and such and post on youtube.

[SJSAMPLE]

Agreed.
I work in Laredo and Nueva Laredo for part of the year, and San Luis Potosi for a month or so.
The “soldiers” stand around in rag-tag gaggles, as nothing more than ripe targets.
I cannot remember when I’ve seen two Mexican “soldiers” with the same weapon, let alone the same uniform.

[csmusaret]

Related articles....http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_11830672

[Flavius]

And all the dealers will have neon signs above their heads saying here I am arrest me

At very least all they have to is wait out the federales or us taxpayer money for these extra troops deployment

Also thy won’t have to travel far to bribe soldiers in different locations now they can bribe the federales en mass

[Moltke]

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

Let's just wait and see how many of those make it out of there alive...

[squarebarb]

Mexican troops are underpaid and their officers are corrupt and you are right, they have no equipment.

They exist to control the peons. Not the drug gangs.

I suspect the drug gang members will hurry across to the US and just wait it out.

[SJSAMPLE]

And, according to CNN and MSNBC, re-arm.

[Bobalu]

Here is the kind of Coke I always pick up plenty of when I'm in Juarez :-) ..still in large returnable glass bottles, made with real sugar and not sticky and icky corn syrup....wonderful!!

[ScottinVA]

This means 7,000 troops will soon be lining up for bribes from the drug lords.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

According to the Mexican press Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the JCS will visit the country at the end of this week to discuss US military aid. One thing being considered is the implementation of an aid package similar to what was provided to Colombia under the Bush administration. There are several problems with that.

First that the Mexican army is not the Colombian army. El Ejercito Méxicano is a joke. The Colombians have been fighting communists for sixty years and have their stuff much more together.

The second problem is that the Colombian insurgency was mostly rural, with periodic terrorist attacks and kidnappings in Bogotá and other major cities. The Mexican insurgency seems to be focused on urban centers like Monterry and Nueva Laredo.

The third problem is, will 0 permit such a program. In Colombia it got ugly. There will be human rights issues.

Finally, Mexican people aren’t going to like the idea of US “Trainers” in Mexico. The opposition PRI party is already gearing up for the next election cycle by forming a coalition with the Greens, Workers (communists) and a couple of other leftist parties. If the PRD joins in behind a single candidate the current ruling party, PAN is toast.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

Most Mexican troops carry rather tired looking HK G3s. Some officers and special units may carry M16/M4 carbines.

Most of the guys you see on the streets, usually in groups of six, with the helmets with PM on them are municipal paramilitary police - think SWAT team without the training. Who knows what they’re packing.

[wardaddy]

Sam’s sells Mexican Coke here in Nashville by the case.

[wardaddy]

HK G-3s probably made with a Spanish license.

They are all over Latin America...Bogota, Quito, La Paz, Santiago.

they may look old but that 7.62 will still light yer ass up.

I was in Bogota during one of M-19s hiccups over the National Justice Bldg.

G-3s got plenty of use that weekend.....they have a report similar to an FN-LAR or SLR

[Oldpuppymax]

So whose side are they fighting on?

[SJSAMPLE]

I’ve seen a lot of G3s, but also some very old lookin M-16A1s, as well.

Now they’ve got their plasticky Xoatacult (or whatever it’s called, Anaconda, or something in Spanish) to boot.

And don’t get me started on their “tactical” vehicles.

They look like a reconstituted company of day laborers headed for a drywall site.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

I was in Bogota during one of M-19s hiccups over the National Justice Bldg.

By the time I started spending time there M-19 had gone, more or less, legit. They're a political party now.

I was there in '99 when the FARC turned out the lights. They seized the largest hydroelectric plant in the country and blew up the turbines right in the middle of Monday Night Football (SF at Arizona?). Six million people and no electricity for two days. My hotel room was on the 6th floor. Guess which entertainment establishments had backup generators.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

They look like a reconstituted company of day laborers headed for a drywall site.

But they ARE a reconstituted company of day laborers!.

Mexico has "universal conscription" and like most countries with universal conscription anybody with two bucks or two brain cells can avoid the draft if they really want to.

I was talking with one of the warehouse guys in Guadalajara some years back. He had bailed for the US when he got his draft notice and spent a couple of years here (illegally I assume) before going back to do his duty to his country. Apparently conscripts get a few weeks of basic training and are allowed to return home and only has to come in on weekends for a year. He compared it to work release (which suggests why he may have been encourage to return to Mexico). He said that all they did was sit around, attend classes on tactical principles and political indoctrination. He said that after basic he never touched a rifle but this was 10 years ago so that may have changed.

Anyone who stays around after their year is up is considered a "professional". I have a feeling these are what are being thrown against the cartels.

Are you talking abut those little wedge shaped 4x4s with the flat noses and funny tires? They're a joke.

[SJSAMPLE]

Most of the time, they’re riding in the back of old 1/4 ton pickups.