Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2007
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2007 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Alfredo Corchado, Dallas Morning News

'SAFEST CITY' NOW HAS DRUG WAR

An Affluent City Just Two Hours From Texas Is The Newest Battleground 
In A War Between Drug Cartels

SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico -- From the shopping malls and the 
fashionable clothes of its residents, this could be any affluent U.S. 
suburb. Residents pride themselves on their prosperity.

But in recent weeks, drug-related violence has shattered the 
tranquillity. The main targets are police, and seven officers have 
been gunned down in Monterrey and its suburbs this year. Men with 
assault weapons killed two former police officers over the weekend.

Last year, 10 law enforcement officials were killed in the area. Five 
were police chiefs, among them San Pedro's chief, Hector Ayala 
Moreno. A top state investigator, Marcelo Garza Y Garza, was shot and 
killed as he left church in San Pedro.

"One day you wake up and realize that your neighbors are not who you 
thought they were," said Denise Colyer, 22, a waitress at a Chili's 
here. "We thought we were immune from the violence, but we're 
surrounded by fear and drug traffickers."

Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border say that the 
killings represent an attempt on part of the Gulf Cartel and its 
enforcement arm, the Zetas, to gain control of police.

Nuevo Leon Gov. Natividad Gonzalez Paras, whose state is hosting a 
worldwide Cultural Forum this September, said Monterrey and its 
suburbs remain safe.

"Monterrey is still -- and we're working at keeping it -- the safest 
city in Mexico," Gonzalez Paras said in an interview. "For us and for 
Mexico, organized crime is the No. 1 problem we face."

About two hours by car from the Texas border, San Pedro Garza Garcia, 
population 120,000, is one of Latin America's wealthiest suburbs -- 
and one with strong ties to Texas. It is home to about 1,500 Dallas 
Cowboys season-ticket holders, and it is a sister city to Plano.

But the same opulence that attracts Mexico's elite families is also a 
magnet for warring drug lords, authorities say. According to two U.S. 
officials, at least five small cells working for the Gulf Cartel now 
exert substantial control in and around Monterrey. The assassins 
number about 15 per cell, said a U.S. law enforcement official, 
speaking on condition of anonymity.

They are some of the same hired guns who for years have terrorized 
Nuevo Laredo and other border communities, the officials said. The 
mastermind is the Gulf Cartel's alleged regional "gatekeeper," Miguel 
Trevino Morales, the U.S. officials said. Last month, Laredo issued 
an arrest warrant for Trevino in connection with a 2006 double 
homicide in Texas.

The Gulf and Sinaloa cartels have been battling over control of 
routes into Texas, particularly Interstate 35, authorities say.

Law enforcement officials in the Monterrey area are resigning in 
waves, including more than 40 in recent days. Last week, Monterrey 
Mayor Adalberto Madero fired 52 police officers suspected of 
corruption and collusion with drug traffickers.

"We are working with the federal government [to develop] a new model, 
a more efficient model, to fight and win the war, which is as 
important to our country as it is to the state," said Gonzalez, the governor.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman