Mexico Launches 8th Offensive In Its Drive Against Drug Cartels

[douglas9]

Source: Washington Post

CIUDAD DEL CARMEN, Mexico, Nov. 30 -- A 727 jetliner loaded with federal police toting assault rifles touched down in this oil-producing city Friday, opening a new front in Mexico's campaign against drug cartels.

The 100 officers who streamed onto the tarmac joined 150 already on the ground setting up roadblocks and making plans for nighttime raids. Traffic stalled on bridges leading on and off the island that makes up much of the city as officers rifled through trucks, peered under car hoods and frisked drivers.

The deployment in Ciudad del Carmen is the eighth in a series of lightning strikes by federal police and the Mexican army aimed at neutralizing drug cartels blamed for 4,000 killings in the past 18 months. The high-profile offensives have been set in motion over the past year by Mexican President Felipe Calder¿n, who reaches his first anniversary in office Saturday.

Calder¿n is hoping the U.S. Congress will approve a $500 million aid package to help Mexico battle drug cartels. Mexican analysts say deployments such as the one taking place in this Gulf of Mexico city in southeastern Mexico are intended to send a strong message to Capitol Hill.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113002335_pf.html