Mexico to send 2,000 more police to violent northern border city of Ciudad Juarez

Mexico to send 2,000 more police to violent city

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A Mexican official says 2,000 more agents will be sent to the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez as federal police take the lead in the crackdown against drug traffickers there.

Mexican federal police commissioner Facundo Rosas says the officers will arrive in the next few days. He says they will coordinate the work of local police officers and the 6,000 soldiers deployed to Ciudad Juarez as part of President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on drug cartels.

Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz says federal agents will also be in charge of the city’s emergency response center.

Military officers and state police had been coordinating the security operations in the city across from El Paso, Texas. More than 2,500 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2009.