POLICE OFFICIAL AND GUARD ARE KILLED IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY -- A gunman killed a high-ranking commander in the federal
police and a bodyguard as they ate lunch at a busy restaurant here on
Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest attack on law enforcement
officials who are waging a campaign against drug traffickers, the
authorities said.

Cmdr. Igor Labastida Calderon, who oversaw a division that monitors
smuggling, had stopped for a bite with three bodyguards and an aide, a
police spokesman, Eduardo Cano, said at a news conference.

At 12:50 p.m., a man walked in and opened fire on their table with a
pistol. Commander Labastida died at the scene. One bodyguard was also
killed, while the others and the aide were seriously wounded. The
gunman sprinted out, jumped into a waiting sedan and escaped, Mr. Cano
said.

No one had been arrested in the attack by the evening. The police
commander often stopped at the small restaurant for lunch.

Commander Labastida was the fourth high-ranking federal police
official to be killed since January. An additional seven federal
agents have been killed in reprisals for antinarcotics operations,
while a dozen more have fallen in gun battles with drug dealers.

Commander Labastida survived an assassination attempt in 2003, when he
was the director of special affairs for the Federal Investigation
Agency, or A.F.I. He was wounded in the thigh and shoulder.

The authorities said he had worked closely with Edgar Millan Gomez,
the acting federal police commissioner who was killed May 8 as he
arrived at his apartment in Mexico City. The police later blamed the
Beltran Leyva drug cartel in Sinaloa State for the killing.

Commander Labastida was one of several A.F.I. commanders that the
secretary of public security, Genaro Garcia Luna, brought with him 18
months ago, when he took over the newly blended intelligence agency
and federal police force.

Since then, the federal police have waged a sustained campaign against
traffickers, as President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of troops
and agents to take back towns controlled by drug dealers. The
traffickers have fought back with assassinations and shootouts.

In all, about 4,000 people have died in violence between organized
crime and the police since Mr. Calderon began his crackdown on drug
traffickers. One in 10 have been police officers, soldiers and other
law enforcement officials.

The United States is trying to help Mexico battle the cartels. Late
Thursday, the Senate passed a bill, the "Merida Initiative," to
provide Mexico with $400 million this year for aircraft, equipment and
training to fight the drug trade. President Bush is expected to sign
the bill, which also gives Central American countries $65 million.

In recent weeks, drug dealers have mutilated and beheaded the bodies
of some victims, leaving threatening messages with them. They have
also waged a war of nerves with the police, placing banners and
placards in public places warning them not to continue the offensive.

Mr. Calderon and his aides have said the wave of violence is evidence
the government has been successful in breaking up drug cartels. They
argue the assassinations are the desperate acts of drug kingpins who
are losing power.

But others point out that the assassinations of Mr. Millan and other
top law enforcement officials have been carried out with the help of
corrupt officers inside the federal police, a sign that the struggle
may just be starting.

For most of the last 30 years, drug cartels have operated with little
interference from the Mexican government. The dealers employed corrupt
officers not only on local police forces but also inside the federal
highway police, who patrolled airports and ports as well.

Mr. Calderon's offensive against the cartels, coupled with an
ambitious effort to reform police departments across the country, has
upset those arrangements, some criminologists say, with a deadly result.