Twenty-one Mexican police officers were notified in a very public way on Sunday that they’re on a murder hit list. The Gente Nueva (New People) gang printed their names in bold, black ink on three banners, then hung the banners on road bridges in Chihuahua City in northern Mexico.
This gang, relatively new, apparently broke away from the Gulf cartel in eastern Mexico, according to a police spokesman. They aim to counter the Gulf cartel’s power in Mexico with funding from rival gangs from the Pacific state of Sinaloa, according to U.S. and Mexican anti-drug authorities.
El Heraldo de Chihuahua reports that, for weeks, several of the policemen also received threats on their personal cell phones, a psychological tactic to create confusion and fear. Since the cell phone numbers are not publicly listed, it appears that the information is being provided by those inside the police department. The newspaper also reported that one of the names listed on the banners is a nickname that is only used within the department.
Because of the possibility of rogue officers within its ranks, police are being put through psychological examinations and given polygraphs. So far more than 140 commanders have been tested in the south and west parts of the state. The tests will be given to commanders in the north zone, including Juárez, in the days to come.
This is not the first time gangs have publicly displayed a hit list. In January, they pinned a list to a police monument in Juárez, just across the border from El Paso. Making good on their intentions, 17 of the police on that list have been killed, despite the presence of 3,000 troops and 500 federales in the state of Chihuahua.
1,400 people have been killed in drug violence this year, up 50 percent from this time in 2007. Since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and declared war on the gangs, more than 4,000 people have been killed. Of that number, about 450 were police, soldiers, prosecutors or investigators.
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