Mexico launches special police force to guard economic activity

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Mexico launches special police force to guard economic activity
By Anahi Rama
MEXICO CITY Fri Aug 22, 2014 4:35pm EDT


Aug 22 (Reuters) - Mexico on Friday launched a scaled-back version of a new police force President Enrique Pena Nieto had vowed to create while on the campaign trail to safeguard businesses against rampant organized crime.

Pena Nieto originally promised to create a 40,000-member Gendarmerie Division to take the lead in tackling violent crimes such as extortion and kidnapping, given that poorly paid security forces have been easy targets for the cartels to infiltrate and corrupt.

But the 5,000-member force launched on Friday will be part of the federal police and focus on guarding agriculture, mining, and oil and gas production against criminal groups, said Monte Alejandro Rubido, director of the National Security Commission.

~snip~

Around 100,000 people have died and more than 20,000 have disappeared since former President Felipe Calderon in 2006 sent in the military to fight the cartels, which led to greater violence.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/22/mexico-security-idUSL2N0QS12U20140822?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&rpc=401

[SoapBox]

1. Uh huh...

Day late and peso short.

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

2. YIPPEE! Another paid corrupt police force in Mexico!

Read NARCOLAND by Anibel Hernandez.

[imthevicar]

3. My thoughts

Exactly.

[mpcamb]

4. My experience in Mx in recent years has been different from that.

There seems to be an effort to cut out the small bribe system and low level corruption that was endemic to the police.
Local police still do tourist stops for a 50 - 100 peso payoff, but it's less common and the federales seem to be actually fighting crime.
Limited sampling of course, but that seems evident in the tourist area of the Yucatan where I've spent time.

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

5. Read NARCOLAND... it will make your head explode

The Yucatan does give one a false sense of security.