MEXICO CITY (AP) — The police chief in a small town in central Mexico took his own life Friday as troops closed in to arrest him as part of anticorruption raids that also detained several other top police commanders and a mayor in other towns.
And troops also arrested the mayor of the nearby town of Amanalco on “various charges,” and also detained the town’s police chief and another local official.
They also arrested the police chief of the town of Tejupilco, farther south.
While some of the raids targeted rural areas, authorities also detained the assistant police chief of Naucalpan, a sprawling suburb of 775,000 inhabitants on the northwest edge of Mexico City.
Later, they announced the arrest of a top police chief in the suburb of Ixtapaluca, to the east of Mexico City, which has about 370,000 inhabitants.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — As troops surrounded a small town in central Mexico to arrest the police chief, who committed suicide Friday. The raids were part of an anticorruption operation that also resulted in the arrest of a mayor and several other top police commanders in other towns.
The widespread, almost simultaneous raids, dubbed “Operation Swarm” by federal officials, occurred in two State of Mexico rural towns west of Mexico City and in two populated suburbs immediately on the outskirts of the nation’s capital.
The seven officials detained “were linked to criminal groups,” according to the federal Public Safety Department. accused of “crimes like homicide, kidnapping, and extortion.”. It was unclear whether they had yet to face formal charges.
The police chief of Texcaltitlan, a rural town, killed himself with his own weapon as soldiers, Marines, and the National Guard surrounded him in an attempt to arrest him on unidentified charges, according to state prosecutors.
Additionally, troops arrested the mayor of the nearby town of Amanalco on “various charges,” and they also detained the town’s police chief and another local executive. Additionally, they detained the police chief of Tejupilco, a town located further south.
The violent La Familia Michoacana gang, which has long controlled the area surrounding those towns, engages in drug trafficking, kidnapping, and extortion.
The assistant police chief of Naucalpan, a large suburb with 775,000 residents on the northwest outskirts of Mexico City, was also arrested by authorities, even though some of the raids were directed towards rural areas.
In the suburb of Ixtapaluca, east of Mexico City, which is home to roughly 370,000 people, they later announced the arrest of a top police chief.
