The latest chapter in Mexico’s struggle with drug gangs is shocking in scale. The arrest of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, a co-leader of La Familia, sent the drug syndicate on a rampage against the state in Michoacán. Monday morning 12 bodies were found and quickly identified as federal police officers. The 11 men and one woman were off duty when they were likely ambushed, then tortured before being shot.
The killings are only the latest in a series of strikes launched since Medina’s arrest early Saturday. Clashes began shortly thereafter, when the main police station in Morelia, the state capital, was blitzed with high-powered firearms and grenades. Over the course of the day other attacks targeted various police and army posts in Michoacán. Five federal officers were killed in Saturday’s attacks, and separate from those off duty, another officer was killed on Monday.
If such targeted attacks were not message enough, a note found among the 12 bodies threatened the police. Nearby, two posters promised death to police who “didn’t leave or line up” with La Familia. Reprisals against law enforcement have surged as drug networks have been disrupted.
This is the greatest loss of Mexican forces in a single event since President Calderón declared war against drug cartels in December 2006. Eight federal police officers were killed in a shootout in the state of Siñaloa in May 2008. Eight soldiers were found decapitated in Guerrero last December.
Michoacán has become a microcosm of Mexico’s struggle. The home state of President Felipe Calderón and La Familia, Michoacán spreads from west of the federal capital to the Pacific, a vital artery of the drug route north. While the state has long been a hotbed of drug trafficking, more recently it has also been a focal point of the government’s crackdown. Suspecting drug ties, federal forces arrested 30 officials there in May, including ten mayors and a judge. Given the competing interests, Michoacán will likely remain arrested by the conflict between the government and drug traffickers for some time to come.
