Mexico Under Siege

MEXICO TO SEND UP TO 5,000 MORE TROOPS TO CIUDAD JUAREZ

The increase would triple the law enforcement presence in the border
city, which has been racked by drug violence. Its police chief quit
recently and its mayor has received threats.

Amid growing alarm over drug violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the
Mexican government will deploy as many as 5,000 more troops to the
border city, officials said Thursday.

The increase would triple the number of troops and federal police
officers operating there as part of President Felipe Calderon's
offensive against drug traffickers.

Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the added troops would
give the military a higher profile by taking control of police
functions, including street patrols. Currently, soldiers tend highway
checkpoints, guard crime scenes and take part in special operations,
such as house searches.

The city is without a police chief. Roberto Orduna Cruz quit last
week after several officers were slain and someone posted threats
saying more would be killed unless he stepped down.

On Wednesday, top Mexican security officials traveled to Ciudad
Juarez to reassure local leaders and vowed to significantly boost the
federal presence.

A little more than 2,000 soldiers and 425 federal police officers are
assigned to Juarez in addition to local police, army spokesman
Enrique Torres said. He said the reinforcements could begin to arrive
in two weeks.

The move would represent a continuation of Calderon's strategy of
relying on the army and federal police to counter drug-trafficking
gangs in the country's main smuggling corridors. He had deployed
45,000 soldiers and 5,000 police officers across the nation as part
of the crackdown, launched two years ago.

The offensive has sparked shootouts between soldiers and traffickers
and triggered vicious fighting between drug gangs that has propelled
the country's fast-climbing death toll. More than 6,000 people were
slain in 2008, and the figure has exceeded 900 this year, according
to unofficial tallies by the news media.

Ciudad Juarez, which had about 1,600 killings last year, has been on
edge over the police chief's resignation and threats that appeared
over the weekend against the mayor.

Reyes and other officials have described the police slayings and
threats as "acts of terrorism."

In a radio interview Thursday, Reyes said the city's 1,600-member
police force was too small even before officers were ordered to
double up in patrol cars after the recent threats. A beefed-up
military contingent will help combat other crimes, such as robberies,
kidnappings and extortion, the mayor said.

Reyes has vowed to continue trying to clean up the city's
corruption-laden police force, which, like many in Mexico, has been
infiltrated by drug smugglers.