Officials fire Mexican police force after gang members found in ranks
An entire police force has been sacked in one Mexican city after it was found to be corrupt and infiltrated by Los Zetas gang members, it has been revealed.
Police in Veracruz-Boca del Rio lost their jobs following the significant discovery that they had been governed by criminal cartels and the government had no choice but to take the drastic measure to get rid of them all, the Associated Press reports.
President Felipe Calderon ordered the removal of the corrupt police officers, deemed one of the biggest steps in his five-year crackdown on the drug culture in the country.
Miguel Sarre, a security expert at Mexico's Autonomous Institute of Technology, said: "We lack the mechanisms for public security and the situation continues despite the investment of million of pesos in the past. It's an issue that lacks recognition and commitment on the part of the governors."
An armed forces official commented that the police force in question was found to be largely made up of gang members and stated that this would be a sufficient conflict of interests.
This finding may come as a further blow to the Los Zetas gang after one of its most high-profile leaders, Raul Lucio Hernandez Lechuga, also known as El Lucky, was recently captured.
