WORLD BRIEFING / MEXICO
Prosecutors questioned the entire police force of a northern Mexico town after the assassination of the new police chief, who had been appointed just four days earlier.
Brig. Gen. Juan Arturo Esparza, slain Wednesday, was the latest military officer killed after taking over a municipal police force plagued by corruption. President Felipe Calderon has acknowledged that there are police officers across Mexico who are in the pay of drug cartels, and he has relied on the military to fight trafficking.
The Nuevo Leon state government sent state police to temporarily replace the police force in Garcia, just outside Monterrey. Hundreds of soldiers were also deployed to reinforce security. Most of Garcia’s 140 police officers were taken for questioning.
Authorities said no motive had been established for Esparza’s killing, but the brutal attack bore the hallmarks of Mexico’s drug cartels.
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