In a large-scale anti-drug operation involving hundreds of Mexican soldiers and Federal Preventative Police troops, a total of 27 mayors and public officials were arrested May 26 in President Felipe Calderón’s home state, Michoacán. Among the detained were the mayors of Apatzingán, Uruapan, Buenavista Tomatlán, Coalcomán, Nuevo Urecho, Arteaga, Tepalcatepec, Aguililla, Tumbiscatío and Ciudad Hidalgo. Several officials were also detained in the state prosecutor’s office in Morelia, which was stormed by federal troops.
Two city police commanders were also arrested in Morelia, the state capital, as well as the director of the state police academy and one of the governor’s public security advisers. With midterm elections less than two months away, Gov. Leonel Godoy of the left-opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), made the point to reporters that the arrested officials came from a variety of political parties. “We have preliminary information of various municipal presidents detained and various state officials as well,” Godoy said, indicating that he was not notified in advance of the operation. (NYT, El Economista, May 26)
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