President targets deadly drug cartels
Mexico’s new government announced that it was sending more than 6,500 soldiers, marines and federal police to the western state of Michoacan to crack down on execution-style killings and beheadings that have left hundreds dead.
The operation is the first major offensive against drug gangs by President Felipe Calderon, who was sworn in Dec. 1 after narrowly winning election on a law and order platform.
Federal investigators say the violence in Michoacan stems from a turf war between a local gang called Los Valencia and the Gulf cartel from northern Mexico. About half of Michoacan’s more than 500 killings this year are linked to the turf war, investigators said.
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