Troops sent to Acapulco area
Mexico deployed thousands of soldiers to military bases near here Wednesday to crack down on drug gangs responsible for violence in the tourist resort.
A column of army trucks, Humvees and armored vehicles brought about 2,000 troops to Guerrero state, a major marijuana- and opium poppy-growing region.
President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December, has dispatched troops to the border city of Tijuana and his home state of Michoacan, both hit hard by killings as cartels fight for control of trafficking routes.
A federal government spokeswoman said the troops in Guerrero were involved in routine antidrug operations, and a state spokesman said they initially would be sent to mountainous zones near Acapulco.
They did not say whether the operation could result in troops on the streets of Acapulco, hit last year by gangs that killed in broad daylight and left a severed head outside a police station.
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