UN TO HELP CHIHUAHUA DEVELOP ANTI-CRIME STRATEGIES

Chihuahua state officials will collaborate with a United Nations
specialized unit to develop new anti-crime strategies in Mexico's
northern border state, officials announced Tuesday.

Chihuahua's new governor, Cesar Duarte, and Antonio Luigi Mazzitelli,
a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
signed an agreement of cooperation in Chihuahua City.

U.N. experts will provide advice only to local law enforcement
officials.

Former United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime officials Carlos
Castresana and Antonio Buscaglia, both prominent anti-organized-crime
experts, traveled to Juarez in 2003 to review the files on murdered
women, and offered recommendations.

Last year, members of the Juarez community asked government officials
to consider asking the United Nations to help reduce the violence in
the city.

The agreement comes after Mexican federal officials said they received
reports indicating that Zetas gang members are on the increase in
Chihuahua state.

Officials said the Zetas broke away from the Gulf drug cartel to
operate their own drug-trafficking networks, and are aligned with the
Carrillo Fuentes organization that's battling the Guzman drug cartel
for control of the Juarez smuggling corridor.

The United Nations conducted a summit earlier year focusing on efforts
to help regional authorities around the world develop effective plans
to combat organized crime.

"Organized crime worldwide (is) on the rise as gangs, terrorists,
money launderers, drug and human traffickers, and cybercriminals
exploited the more open borders and technological advances spurred by
globalization," according to a U.N. statement.