In Mexican society, the profession of policeman isn’t the most respected. Like in many other countries, most are suspicious of policemen, who are believed to be corrupt, capable of turning a blind eye to any crime or misdemeanor for a “mordida”. In the state of Nuevo León, in Northern Mexico, the Mexican army has arrested over 100 policemen believed to be linked to organized crime, and involved in the 51 murders that have occurred in the state this year:

Among these murders, most committed with large caliber weapons, are 18 murders of policeman, some of whom are presumed to be linked to organized crime and were victims of acts of vengeance by drug cartels who are fighting for the routes towards the U.S.

The announcement of the arrest was made by Nuevo León’s communications director, Omar Cervantes, who told press that the arrests were made in the municipalities of Abasolo, Pesquería, Los Aldama, Ciénega de Flores, Hidalgo, El Carmen, Mina, Marín, Zuázua, Higueras, Doctor González and Salinas Victoria.

According to Spain’s El Mundo, the arrests marks the first action on the part of government since federal agents were sent in to the state to try to slow the violence in February

Nuevo León isn’t alone in this struggle with drug-related violence. Earlier this month, Mexican president Felipe Calderon sent federal agents and members of the army into the city of Tijuana, as well as the central Mexican state of Michoacán. Reports El Mundo:

Initially, in December, the antidrug operation was only to be sent to Michoacán, one of the most troubled states in terms of violence related to drug trafficking, and where more than 500 people were murdered in 2006. But the operation was widened…to include Tijauana, where last year there were 353 murders and 165 kidnappings, a practice that has been growing in the city. “This is about getting Tijuana back. It’s in the hands of criminal organizations,” Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora told Reuters.

Earlier this year narco violence brought the city of Acapulco to its knees, with a siege on a police station and other incidents which claimed the lives of several people, among them a journalist for Televisa.

Via / El Mundo

Images via Cronica.com.mx and expresionlibre.org