MEXICO STEPS UP DRUG WAR

Thousands Of Troops To Set Marijuana, Opium Fields Afire In Latest Crackdown

APATZINGAN, Mexico -- Thousands of troops rolled into a Mexican drug
stronghold Tuesday to set fire to marijuana and opium fields and
round up traffickers. The forces were sent by President Felipe
Calderon to restore order in a region where smugglers have defied
authorities with beheadings and large-scale drug production.

Navy ships were patrolling the Lazaro Cardenas port, a hub for drugs
arriving from Central America and Colombia on their way to the United
States. Cornelio Casio, one of several generals overseeing the
operation in the western state of Michoacan, said 6,500 soldiers and
federal police were deployed. The campaign echoes crackdowns by
previous Mexican presidents who repeatedly ordered mass firings of
drug-corrupted police, revamped courts, sent troops to battle
traffickers and accelerated drug seizures -- without making much of a
dent in the quantity of narcotics crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.

In an interview Tuesday with the Televisa network, Attorney General
Eduardo Medina Mora said the operation was aimed at "reconquering
territory" controlled by drug gangs.

"It's not just a war against drug lords," he said. "It's a war
against the entire criminal structure."

Medina Mora acknowledged drug lords will likely just find another
stronghold, saying, "It's a complicated war." But, he added, "It is a
war we can win."