Top Tijuana policeman died in Mexican drug war

TijuanaA, Mexico, May 15: A high-ranking policeman in the Mexican city of Tijuana, a drug trafficking hotspot, was found shot dead, police said.

Jorge Altriste, head of operations for Mexico's elite police force in Tijuana, was discovered in a crime-ridden neighborhood of the city yesterday with three gunshot wounds to the head, a spokesman for the Mexican Attorney General's office said.

His body showed signs of torture, the spokesman said.

Tijuana is a major crossing point for U.S.-bound cocaine and methamphetamine and a battleground in a violent war between competing drug cartels.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of troops to Tijuana and other regions to stop violence caused by a war between the powerful Gulf Cartel and an alliance of traffickers from the northwestern state of Sinaloa.

But the drug-related killings have continued, with close to 800 people killed this year.

Drug gangs in Mexico occasionally assassinate senior local police. Sometimes it is unclear whether the police have been targeted because of involvement with organized criminals or in retribution for trying to catch them.

Also yesterday, a high-ranking official in the organized crime division of Mexico's Attorney General's office was shot dead by unidentified assailants on his way to work in Mexico City.

In parts of the country where drug gang violence is most acute, journalists are also increasingly coming under fire.

A reporter and cameraman from Mexico's No. 2 television channel, who had covered the drug war, were reported missing on Monday in Monterrey, a northern city where abductions and killings by drug gangs are common.

Reuters>