TOP ANTI-NARCOTICS OFFICIAL SLAIN IN MEXICO CITY

New Head Of A Federal Anti-Narcotics Unit Is Ambushed On His Way To
Work

MEXICO CITY - The new head of a federal anti-narcotics intelligence
unit was shot dead on the streets of Mexico City on Monday amid
rampant drug violence that has claimed an estimated 1,000 lives this
year across Mexico.

It was the highest-level assassination of a law enforcement official
since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels in
December.

Since taking office, Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops
and federal police in what has been called an unprecedented offensive
against the cartels, which are fighting for control of the growing
domestic market and trafficking routes into the United States.

But while the show of force has landed Calderon approval ratings of
more than 70 percent, it has yielded little of substance. So far, no
major traffickers have been arrested.

Police said Jose Nemesio Lugo Felix, 55, was driving to his office in
southern Mexico City at 7:50 a.m. when he was ambushed by several
gunmen in a Pontiac sedan.

The attackers cut him off and then fired at least three shots into his
vehicle, fatally wounding him in the head and back. One of the men
then leapt out of the Pontiac and fled on a waiting motorcycle, the
police said.

Lugo was appointed just last month to lead an elite intelligence unit
in the federal attorney general's office, known by its Spanish
initials PGR. Before that, he headed a special squad investigating
trafficking of minors and illegal immigrants.

"It's the highest level killing of a PGR official I can remember,"
said Viviana Macias, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, lamented the killing
Monday.

"A principled and tireless crime fighter, Mr. Lugo is the latest
Mexican law enforcement official to have lost his life in a valiant
stand against the criminals who seek to enrich themselves by
destroying the very fabric of our society," Garza said in a statement.

"American law enforcement officials who worked with Mr. Lugo admired
him for his dedication and professionalism," he said.

The killing was headline news Monday in the capital, which has largely
been spared the shootouts by cartel gunmen now common in other cities.

In Tijuana, Jorge Alatriste Mendoza -- an agent for the Federal
Investigation Agency, Mexico's FBI equivalent -- was kidnapped,
strangled and shot point-blank in the forehead and chest, local news
reports said Monday.

The killing occurred just blocks from a hospital where suspected
traffickers clashed with police last month when they attempted to
finish off a wounded rival.

The violence also appears to be taking its toll on journalists, who
are increasingly being targeted by the drug gangs.

On Thursday, a TV reporter and a cameraman for the TV-Azteca network
disappeared from the northern city of Monterrey. They are presumed
kidnapped, and authorities are investigating whether they may have
been targets of organized crime.

The reporter, Gamiel Lopez Candanosa, only occasionally covered the
crime beat, the most lethal job for journalists here. At least two
journalists have been killed in drug-related crimes this year, and one
has been kidnapped and feared killed.

Calderon has sent troops and police into Tijuana and other cities
along Mexico's border with the United States, as well as into the
resort town of Acapulco and his home state of Michoacan.

The National Human Rights Commission has accused the government of
widespread abuses in Michoacan in recent weeks.

The army has recently stepped up its raids in the central state after
five soldiers were ambushed and killed by traffickers earlier this
month.

Calderon's anti-drug czar, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, defended
the government strategy earlier this month.

"The deaths of the men and women who die while doing their duty is
lamentable," he told Reforma newspaper. "But in spite of this, we are
winning this battle.

"We can't give ourselves the luxury of being cowed by organized
crime."