MEXICO: Mexican federal police grab guns in Oaxaca raid

Mexican federal police stormed state police offices and the state attorney general's offices in the conflict-torn city of Oaxaca on Friday (December 8), seizing agents' guns to check if they were used in the killings of more than a dozen people. With a helicopter buzzing overhead, dozens of armed federal police raided the state offices and grabbed more than 300 guns which will be taken to the defense ministry for checks, police chief Ardelio Vargas. "We didn't come to look for anyone. What we came to do is an investigation and to corroborate that the weapons are the one on the licenses and that's what we're doing. We have 341 weapons in our power," he told reporters. The southern city of Oaxaca, popular with tourists, has been in chaos for six months because of protests by striking teachers, Indian groups and leftists demanding the removal of Governor Ulises Ruiz, who they accuse of corruption. Most of those killed in the Oaxaca conflict have been protesters and many believe it could have been the work of undercover or off-duty state police or agents. One U.S. journalist was shot dead covering the conflict in October. The raid came just a week after Felipe Calderon was sworn in as Mexico's new president and promised to crack down on crime. No state attorney general agents were in the building at the time of the raid, only a handful of administrative staff. Federal police have recently gained the upper hand in Oaxaca, bulldozing barricades that had virtually shut down the city center during months of often bloody protests. Police have arrested more than 150 people during and after a riot in late November that left four burned out government buildings. Critics have accused the police of torture and illegally arresting activists. Despite the protests and conflict, Ruiz has refused to resign.

ITN Source | December 9, 2006

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