Mexico City- There it was on video: five armed policemen barge into a hotel in Mexico before dawn and march out with three handcuffed men.
But police weren’t making an arrest. Prosecutors say they were apparently taking orders from criminals. Just hours after the three were seized, they were found beaten to death.
Mexicans have become inured to lurid tales of police collaboration with narcotics gangs during five-and-a-half years of a drug war that has cost more than 47 500 lives.
Although
the murders occurred in January, the officers were not detained until June 6.
Police are investigating whether the gunmen in the tape belong to the New Generation cartel based in Jalisco state.
The arrests come less than three weeks before national elections in which security and corruption are major issues.
Police corruption is rampant in local governments across political parties. Thousands of Mexico’s 460 000 officers, including entire forces at times, have been fired, detained or placed under investigation for allegedly aiding drug gangs.
President Felipe Calderon’s plan to vet them has moved slowly, with only 8 percent passing background checks as of the end of 2011. –
Sapa-AP
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