Mexican governor suspends police force

A MEXICAN governor suspended an entire state police force on Monday to shake up the force after two senior officers were accused of cutting deals with powerful drug traffickers.

All 553 members of the Morelos state ministerial police force were suspended pending investigation, their weapons taken away and their offices placed under guard, officials said.

Morelos Governor Sergio Estrada said the move was part of an overhaul of law enforcement in the state, which lies south of Mexico City, to create a police force “that responds in a manner more in line with the needs of society.”

Last week, a Mexican judge jailed without bail two senior Morelos police officers accused of protecting drug traffickers and helping them distribute planeloads of cocaine.

The two were jailed pending trial for providing protection to Vicente Carrillo, head of the notorious Juarez drug cartel, and aide Juan Jose Esparragoza, alias “El Azul” or “Mr Blue.” Arrest warrants were also issued for five other Morelos state employees, who were on the run.

Authorities said the Juarez cartel was allowed to land small planes carrying cocaine at the airport in Cuernavaca, the Morelos state capital, a weekend and summer retreat for the wealthy.

The drugs were removed from the planes under police supervision and transported in state police vehicles for sale, officials said.

Investigators are reviewing the state police force files and other records in a probe expected to be complete this week, said Jose Angel Pascaccio, a spokesman for the governor.

Any officers suspected of crimes will be fired and face charges and the others will be reinstated, he said. The ministerial police force’s duties have been assumed by a separate state security force.

Mexico’s policing structure contains a variety of federal, state and local forces.