31 police officers arrested in central Mexico for allegedly protecting drug cartel hit men

September 9th, 2009 Journalists arrested for alleged drug gang payoffsVILLAHERMOSA, Mexico — Two rural journalists have been arrested for allegedly working as informants for a violent drug trafficking cartel, according to courts in the southern Mexico state of Tabasco. Newspaper correspondents Roberto Juarez and Lazaro Abreu Tejero Sanchez are being held on charges that they accepted thousands of dollars from the Zetas, a fierce drug gang aligned with the Gulf cartel, the state court system said in a news release.

August 12th, 2009 No loitering rule applies to police in MexicoMONTERREY, Mexico — Police in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey have been told not to sit in parked patrol cars observing traffic, because officials suspect they could be spying for criminal gangs or drug cartels. The measure marks a new low for Monterrey's municipal police.

August 8th, 2009 Mexico captures lieutenant of Tijuana cartelMEXICO CITY —Mexican federal police say they have captured a top lieutenant of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel. Suspect Manuel Invanovich Zambrano Flores is among those listed on a U.S.

July 26th, 2009 Mexico police catch 11 cartel suspects at meth labMEXICO CITY — Mexican police say they have captured 11 suspected members of the La Familia cartel and seized a methamphetamine lab in the western state of Michoacan. The Public Safety Department says federal police detected the lab allegedly operated by La Familia after a strong chemical smell was reported in a rural area of the state.

July 13th, 2009 Gunmen kill policeman, wound 3 more in TijuanaTIJUANA, Mexico — Gunmen opened fire on a patrol car in the drug-plagued border city of Tijuana, killing one police officer and wounding three more, authorities said Monday. Tijuana police said in a statement that Sunday's attack brings to 18 the number of officers that have been killed this year in the city across from San Diego.

June 30th, 2009 Mexico frees 3 mayors held for alleged drug tiesMORELIA, Mexico — Federal prosecutors released three of the 10 Mexican mayors arrested last month in an unprecedented sweep of elected officials accused of protecting a drug cartel, authorities said Monday. The mayors of the western towns of Coahuayana, Buenavista and Aquila were let go after spending more than a month in jail, the federal Attorney General's Office said in a statement.

June 29th, 2009 Mexico detains 93 police in corruption probeMEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors announced Sunday they have put 93 police officers and investigators under house arrest on suspicion of aiding the Zetas, a feared gang of hit men tied to the Gulf drug cartel. Corruption scandals have long plagued Mexican law enforcement, but the detentions represented one of the biggest single roundups of suspected officers in recent years.

June 8th, 2009 Mexico captures drug cartel suspect wanted in USMEXICO CITY — Mexican police have captured a woman wanted in the United States for allegedly smuggling $2 million in cocaine-trafficking profits for a powerful drug cartel. The Attorney General's Office says Olga Lerma was arrested in western Jalisco state after police spent three months tracking her movements.

June 3rd, 2009 Mexico nabs top cartel suspect; 21 police detainedMEXICO CITY — Mexican soldiers captured a drug cartel suspect accused of helping procure the largest illegal weapons cache found in the country, authorities said Tuesday. The federal government also moved forward in its campaign to root out corruption, rounding up 21 more police officers in several northern cities for questioning on suspicions they had ties to drug trafficking.

May 24th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - A senior leader of a dreaded drug cartel of Mexico has been arrested in the northeastern city of Ciudad Victoria, authorities have said. Nelson Garcia Lozano, the Gulf drug gang's head of operations in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas province, was held following a gun exchange between his men and troops Saturday, the national defence secretariat said.

May 9th, 2009 Mexico arrests 25 Tijuana officers in cartel bustTIJUANA, Mexico — Mexico arrested 25 Tijuana police officers and two civilians on organized crime charges for alleged drug gang ties, the federal attorney general's office said Friday. The suspects are accused of helping alleged Arellano Felix cartel leader Teodoro Garcia, one of Mexico's 24 most wanted drug suspects, the office said in a statement.

April 30th, 2009 Mexico detains 12 officers on corruption chargesMEXICO CITY — A Mexican judge has jailed 12 federal police investigators accused of leaking information to hit men who ambushed and killed eight officers in a failed attempt to free a high-level cartel member. Mexico's Attorney General's Office says the suspects worked as investigators for Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigations, the country's equivalent of the FBI.

April 30th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities have arrested a key member of the country's most ruthless drug cartel during a raid in the northeastern border city of Matamoros, the public safety secretariat said Thursday. Federal police officials managed to locate the whereabouts of Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, one of the top members of the notorious Gulf cartel, at a home in that city's Tlaxcala district.

April 20th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Eight law enforcement officials, including two federal police officers and two prison guards, were killed in an attack on a police convoy in western Mexico, authorities said Sunday. According to the public safety secretariat, the assailants opened fired Saturday on the police convoy transporting an important drug suspect to a prison in the coastal state of Nayarit.

January 16th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities have ordered two former heads of Interpol Mexico to be sent to prison and await trial for their alleged nexus with the a powerful drug cartel, EFE news agency reported. According to the Attorney General's Office, Rodolfo de la Guardia Garcia and Ricardo Gutierrez Vargas were brought before a court in the northeastern Mexican state of Nayarit Thursday and later jailed pending their trial.