Pubdate: Tue, 15 May 2007 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2007 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198 Author: Marion Lloyd, Houston Chronicle TOP ANTI-NARCOTICS OFFICIAL SLAIN IN MEXICO CITY New Head Of A Federal Anti-Narcotics Unit Is Ambushed On His Way To Work MEXICO CITY - The new head of a federal anti-narcotics intelligence unit was shot dead on the streets of Mexico City on Monday amid rampant drug violence that has claimed an estimated 1,000 lives this year across Mexico. It was the highest-level assassination of a law enforcement official since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels in December. Since taking office, Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police in what has been called an unprecedented offensive against the cartels, which are fighting for control of the growing domestic market and trafficking routes into the United States. But while the show of force has landed Calderon approval ratings of more than 70 percent, it has yielded little of substance. So far, no major traffickers have been arrested. Police said Jose Nemesio Lugo Felix, 55, was driving to his office in southern Mexico City at 7:50 a.m. when he was ambushed by several gunmen in a Pontiac sedan. The attackers cut him off and then fired at least three shots into his vehicle, fatally wounding him in the head and back. One of the men then leapt out of the Pontiac and fled on a waiting motorcycle, the police said. Lugo was appointed just last month to lead an elite intelligence unit in the federal attorney general's office, known by its Spanish initials PGR. Before that, he headed a special squad investigating trafficking of minors and illegal immigrants. "It's the highest level killing of a PGR official I can remember," said Viviana Macias, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, lamented the killing Monday. "A principled and tireless crime fighter, Mr. Lugo is the latest Mexican law enforcement official to have lost his life in a valiant stand against the criminals who seek to enrich themselves by destroying the very fabric of our society," Garza said in a statement. "American law enforcement officials who worked with Mr. Lugo admired him for his dedication and professionalism," he said. The killing was headline news Monday in the capital, which has largely been spared the shootouts by cartel gunmen now common in other cities. In Tijuana, Jorge Alatriste Mendoza -- an agent for the Federal Investigation Agency, Mexico's FBI equivalent -- was kidnapped, strangled and shot point-blank in the forehead and chest, local news reports said Monday. The killing occurred just blocks from a hospital where suspected traffickers clashed with police last month when they attempted to finish off a wounded rival. The violence also appears to be taking its toll on journalists, who are increasingly being targeted by the drug gangs. On Thursday, a TV reporter and a cameraman for the TV-Azteca network disappeared from the northern city of Monterrey. They are presumed kidnapped, and authorities are investigating whether they may have been targets of organized crime. The reporter, Gamiel Lopez Candanosa, only occasionally covered the crime beat, the most lethal job for journalists here. At least two journalists have been killed in drug-related crimes this year, and one has been kidnapped and feared killed. Calderon has sent troops and police into Tijuana and other cities along Mexico's border with the United States, as well as into the resort town of Acapulco and his home state of Michoacan. The National Human Rights Commission has accused the government of widespread abuses in Michoacan in recent weeks. The army has recently stepped up its raids in the central state after five soldiers were ambushed and killed by traffickers earlier this month. Calderon's anti-drug czar, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, defended the government strategy earlier this month. "The deaths of the men and women who die while doing their duty is lamentable," he told Reforma newspaper. "But in spite of this, we are winning this battle. "We can't give ourselves the luxury of being cowed by organized crime." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek