Rio police find clandestine drug gang ‘clinics’ that treated traffickers wounded in shootouts

September 21st, 2009 SAN JOSE - Ten Costa Rican police officers have been arrested for aiding Colombian drug traffickers, authorities said. Costa Rica's Drug Control Police (PCD) have also arrested three Colombian nationals who were allegedly involved in the crime along the Pacific coast.

September 16th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - At least 24 people have been killed in separate incidents in the northern Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, which has been plagued in a vicious inter-gang drug war in recent times, authorities have said. According to the police, gunmen armed with assault rifles entered a drug rehabilitation center Tuesday night in the Papalote neighborhood and killed 10 people, including a woman, while those inside were celebrating the 199th anniversary of Mexico's independence.

September 14th, 2009 31 Mexican police arrested for alleged drug tiesMEXICO CITY — Thirty-one police officers have been arrested in a central Mexican state on suspicion of collaborating with a gang of drug cartel hit men. The Public Safety Department says the officers were arrested as part of a months-long investigation into alleged ties between police and the Zetas in Hidalgo, a state north of Mexico City.

September 10th, 2009 Colombia seizes drug traffickers' propertiesBOGOTA — Police in Colombia have seized $55 million in properties and assets from drug traffickers, including shares in a popular soccer team. A police statement says the operation took place over two days in five cities in Antioquia state and six cities in Cundinamarca state.

September 4th, 2009 Police arrest Mexican mayor suspected of drug tiesMORELIA, Mexico — Federal police detained a small-town mayor on Friday on suspicion of aiding drug traffickers in the same western Mexico state where eight other city chiefs have been arrested since May on similar charges. Armando Medina, the 49-year-old mayor of Mugica in Michoacan state, was taken into custody at city hall.

August 30th, 2009 Defense lawyer for Mexican drug kingpin killedTOLUCA, Mexico — A lawyer for a convicted Mexican drug kingpin was found stabbed to death in his home, authorities said Saturday. Americo Delgado was the second Mexican defense attorney for high-profile drug suspects killed in less than a month.

August 7th, 2009 Shootouts in Mexico leave at least 12 deadPACHUCA, Mexico — A running battle between police and gunmen has left 12 people dead in this central Mexican city, officials said Friday. The dead included three police officers and nine gunmen, said Hidalgo state Attorney General Jose Alberto Rodriguez.

August 7th, 2009 Shootouts in Mexico leave at least 11 deadPACHUCA, Mexico — Eleven people are dead following a running battle between police and gunmen in the central Mexican city of Pachuca. Hidalgo state police director Donanciano Millan says the dead include two police officers and nine gunmen.

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 4th, 2009 11 bodies found inside abandoned car in MexicoMEXICO CITY — Mexican police found 11 bodies — most with their hands and feet cut off — inside an abandoned car in the border state of Sonora Thursday in violence attributed to drug traffickers battling for control of the region. Sonora's state prosecutors said in a statement that the bodies were discovered inside a sport utility vehicle on a road between the towns of Caborca and Sonoyta along with a threatening message.

June 4th, 2009 Mexico captures 2 of 53 escaped inmatesMEXICO CITY — Federal agents have captured two of 53 inmates who escaped from a prison in northern Mexico last month as its guards apparently stood by, federal police said Thursday. Marcos Espinoza and Osvaldo Garcia were detained Wednesday in Mexico's central state of Hidalgo along with six alleged members of the Zetas, a gang of hit men tied to the Gulf cartel, federal police intelligence coordinator Luis Cardenas told reporters.

May 31st, 2009 VANCOUVER - Yet another Indian Canadian man appears to have perished in the drug gang war here, but police are yet to confirm if this is indeed the case. Twentynine-year-old Sarbjit (Steve) Nagra Friday drove his bullet-riddled SUV to a hospital in Maple Ridge, about 40 km from here, after he was shot.

May 8th, 2009 Mexico: 3 missing women killed by traffickersTIJUANA, Mexico — Mexican police say three women who disappeared in the border city of Tijuana were killed by drug traffickers who dissolved their bodies in a caustic substance. Baja California state investigator Miguel Guerrero says the women — aged 23 to 25 — have been missing since August after they traveled from Mexicali to Tijuana, across from San Diego.

April 30th, 2009 Mexico nabs drug gang leader on most-wanted listMEXICO CITY — Mexican police have arrested suspected Zeta gang leader Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, one of Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug traffickers. Federal police say Sauceda Gamboa was detained in the border city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

April 30th, 2009 Mexico nabs Zeta gang leader on most-wanted listMEXICO CITY — Mexican police on Wednesday arrested suspected Zeta gang leader Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, one of Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug traffickers. Sauceda Gamboa appears on a list of 24 alleged drug traffickers published by prosecutors in March.