Mexico Violence Spurs Request

Gov. Jose Natividad Gonzalez of Nuevo Leon state, on the Texas border, asked the army to staff road checkpoints Wednesday after four killings that appeared to be linked to a bloody turf war between rival drug gangs.

Gonzalez’s request came hours after at least two assailants shot a man to death in broad daylight at a carwash in Monterrey, the state capital.

On Monday, Monterrey police found two corpses, including one that had been decapitated. On Sunday, at least 15 gunmen fired at the car of federal investigator Veronica Palacios, seriously injuring her and killing a female passenger.

Officials are asking “for reinforcement in some checkpoints, especially those on the highways leading to Coahuila and Tamaulipas and in some other areas in the state,” Gonzalez told reporters.

Army checkpoints are already used in several Mexican states, including neighboring Tamaulipas, where there have been more than 100 drug-related killings this year.

Soldiers regularly accompany federal agents in raids against drug traffickers across Mexico.

Investigators say that the Sinaloa cartel is fighting the Gulf cartel for billion-dollar drug smuggling routes into the United States. The battle has led to killings across Mexico. There have been slayings in Nuevo Laredo on an almost daily basis this year.