|
Antonio Betancourt contributed reporting.
Byline: ELISABETH MALKIN
New York Times News
MEXICO CITY – Even by the gruesome standards of Mexico’s drug lords, Arturo Beltran Leyva’s capacity for violent revenge was especially brazen, officials in both the United States and Mexico say. His enforcement arm, called the Fuerzas Armadas de Arturo, or the Armed Forces of Arturo, is considered one of Mexico’s most ruthless, according to the U.S. State Department.
Since September, he had been carrying out brutal retaliatory attacks against rivals, dumping decapitated heads and tortured bodies across two Mexican states, leaving notes from "el jefe de jefes," the boss of bosses.But on Wednesday, Beltran Leyva, one of Mexico’s three most wanted drug kingpins, was killed during a battle with about 400 special forces troops from the navy and the army, who surrounded a complex in Cuernavaca, where he had an apartment.
And although President Felipe Calderon on Thursday called the operation "a convincing blow" against the drug cartels, his government also warned that drug-related violence might not abate and could even get worse.Beltran Leyva, 48, who was also wanted in the United States, was the highest-level drug lord to be killed since Calderon began his offensive against powerful drug gangs in 2006.Six other people suspected of being drug gunmen, included one who committed suicide, and one sailor died in the firefight, the Mexican authorities said.Beltran Leyva’s death is a public relations victory for Calderon, who is facing criticism from the opposition over what they say is a lack of progress in his crackdown on drugs. Despite thousands of arrests and the capture of several gang leaders, drug violence keeps increasing. Speaking from Copenhagen, where he is attending the U.N. climate talks, Calderon called Beltran Leyva’s death "a convincing blow against one
of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Mexico and on the continent."But Attorney General Arturo Chavez Chavez said that violence would continue. "Getting the leader of a cartel is a very strong blow and this will surely force restructuring," Chavez Chavez said. "Violence inside the cartel can’t be ruled out until the chain of command is defined."Jorge Chabat, a security expert at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics, in Mexico City, said that Beltran Leyva’s death was a step in the government’s long-term strategy of fragmenting the cartels’ power to limit their activity.But not everyone
...
|
rss
