Mexico police chief quits after drug gang threats
CIUDAD JUAREZ, May 18 (Reuters) - A Mexican police chief has quit his post across the border from El Paso, Texas, after receiving death threats from drug gangs that are striking back at a crackdown on smugglers, an official said on Sunday.
Ciudad Juarez's top policeman Guillermo Prieto resigned just days after suspected cartel hit men killed the city's No. 2 police officer.
A former army officer will replace Prieto on Monday. The army has sent more than 1,000 troops with heavy weaponry and helicopters to quell rampant violence in the city.
"This is about keeping (Prieto) safe," said a source in the city's police department who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Six high-ranking police officers have been killed in Mexico in the last two weeks as President Felipe Calderon steps up his battle against drug traffickers.
Calderon has sent 25,000 troops and federal police to fight cartels across Mexico since 2006. That includes 2,700 troops deployed last week to the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa, home to a federation of drug gangs run by Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.
Violence has surged in Ciudad Juarez as Guzman's gang and its main rival, the Gulf Cartel, war over smuggling routes on the U.S. border.
More than 2,500 people have died in drug violence so far this year, including more than 200 people in Ciudad Juarez. (Reporting by Ignacio Alvarado and Jason Lange; Editing by Xavier Briand)
Ciudad Juarez's top policeman Guillermo Prieto resigned just days after suspected cartel hit men killed the city's No. 2 police officer.
A former army officer will replace Prieto on Monday. The army has sent more than 1,000 troops with heavy weaponry and helicopters to quell rampant violence in the city.
"This is about keeping (Prieto) safe," said a source in the city's police department who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Six high-ranking police officers have been killed in Mexico in the last two weeks as President Felipe Calderon steps up his battle against drug traffickers.
Calderon has sent 25,000 troops and federal police to fight cartels across Mexico since 2006. That includes 2,700 troops deployed last week to the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa, home to a federation of drug gangs run by Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.
Violence has surged in Ciudad Juarez as Guzman's gang and its main rival, the Gulf Cartel, war over smuggling routes on the U.S. border.
More than 2,500 people have died in drug violence so far this year, including more than 200 people in Ciudad Juarez. (Reporting by Ignacio Alvarado and Jason Lange; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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