MEXICO SENDS TROOPS TO ARREST TRAFFICKERS

President Vows To Restore Order

APATZINGAN, MEXICO (AP) - Thousands of troops rolled into a key drug
stronghold Tuesday in Mexico to burn marijuana and opium fields and
round up smugglers.

The forces were sent by President Felipe Calderon to restore order in
a region where cartels have beheaded people and run 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, Calderon's home state, said 6,500
soldiers and federal police were deployed.

"We aren't going to lose any time," he said. "We are completely
focused on this war."

The campaign echoes crackdowns by previous Mexican presidents who
repeatedly ordered mass firings of drug-corrupted police, revamped
courts, sent thousands of troops to battle traffickers and
accelerated drug seizures - without making much of a dent in the
quantity of narcotics crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora told the Televisa network
Tuesday 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 said drug lords likely will find another stronghold.
"It's a complicated war," he said, but "it is a war we can win."

Calderon brushed aside concerns the crackdown could lead to
violations of human rights and claim innocent victims.

"It's about recovering the calm, day-to-day life of Mexicans who live
in the state," he said Tuesday.

Calderon took office Dec. 1, promising to stop the killings, corrupt
police and defiant gangs that plagued Vicente Fox's presidency.
Calderon has budgeted more money for law enforcement and appointed a
hard-line interior secretary, Francisco Ramirez Acuna.

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza repeatedly has expressed concern about an
increase in violence, some of which has spilled into the United
States, and the State Department has warned U.S. citizens about
travel to Mexico.

Warring cartels have killed at least 2,000 people this year and
forced Fox to send troops to the border city of Nuevo Laredo and the
beach resort of Acapulco.