Mexico sending 2,000 more troops to Juárez as homicides rise
A reinforcement of more than 2,000 Mexican army soldiers is being deployed to Juárez in an attempt to curb the latest surge in homicides in the border city, officials said.
The soldiers will be additions to the hundreds of troops already taking part in patrols with city and state police forces.
There were more than 120 homicides in Juárez in January with the violence continuing in February, including deadly daytime shootings outside stores and multi-victim deaths at homes. Authorities said that the bloodshed is because of fighting between drug gangs.
Last July, a new strategy — named "Estrategia Unidos por Juárez" or "Unidos X Juárez" (United for Juárez) — was launched between the military, police, civic groups and educational institutions to try to reduce homicides and other crimes. The year ended with more than 1,160 homicides, an increase from the more than 1,000 killings in 2022.
For over a decade, Mexico has sent military troops to attempt to quell drug cartel violence at various hot zones across the nation, including Juárez. In many cases, the violence continued or even worsened.
Police, military raids hit 16 locations in Juárez
An operation by Chihuahua state police, the Mexican army and National Guard on Feb. 9 carried out simultaneous raids at 16 locations across Juárez, authorities said.
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The Chihuahua Attorney General's Office said that four people were arrested and police seized eight packages of crystal methamphetamine, four handguns, a car, ammunition, two communication radios, 10 cellphones and two laptop computers as part of ongoing criminal investigations.
A force of 300 police officers and military troops supported by a state police helicopter and five aerial surveillance drones served search warrants at targets in various neighborhoods, including the western, southeastern and central parts of Juárez, officials said.
Trucker shooting protest blocks Juárez-Chihuahua City highway
The shooting of a truck driver sparked a more than 20-hour trucker blockade to protest the need for better security on the Panamerican Highway connecting Juárez and Chihuahua City.
A truck driver was shot in the head when gunmen fired at him on Friday afternoon while traveling on the highway between the towns of Sueco and Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua.
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The trucker, identified in news reports as Victor Gutierrez, was a driver for the trucking transportation company Transportes Soto e Hijos, which has terminals in Chihuahua City and El Paso.
On Monday, Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui Moreno told El Heraldo de Chihuahua that the trucker, who was hospitalized in Juárez, had been declared brain dead.
After the shooting, truckers parked their 18-wheelers on the roadway, preventing travel while demanding that highway security be increased. The blockade ended after trucking industry leaders met with state government representatives.
Truckers claimed that the driver was shot during a robbery attempt, but the state attorney general said that early indications of the ongoing investigation don't point to a robbery because the man's belongings and the truckload had not been stolen.
A news release by the government of the state of Chihuahua said that Mexico's National Guard, in coordination with state police, will reinforce "critical points" on the highway.
The Panamerican Highway is a vital road for goods traveling from the El Paso-Juárez border to and from the interior of Mexico.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Mexico sending 2,000 more troops to Juárez as homicides rise
