Ciudad Juárez Public Safety Director Guillermo Prieto submitted his resignation following a string of killings that included some of his top officers. AP [2] May 18 cites a city spokesman saying Prieto would be replaced by a military officer on leave from the armed forces. The local El Diario [3] cites Mayor José Reyes Ferriz saying the new police chief will be a retired military officer. Neither source named the new appointee.
Local media also reported a series of killings over the weekend, including an attack by gunmen in the town of Ahumada, about 70 miles south of Juárez, and a shooting at a nightclub involving assault rifles.
As Juárez police chief, Prieto served during a period in which drug cartels grew increasingly bold, openly advertising for drug couriers, shooting it out with rivals in the streets and issuing a hit list threatening 22 top city police officials. Of those 22, seven have been killed, three more have been wounded in assassination attempts and the remainder, save one, have left their posts.
See our last post on Mexico's narco crisis [4].
