Many Police Abandon Posts Throughout Chihuahua
Juárez:  Sixth Attack on Police in Four Days
Another Dead Body

Diario de Juarez (click here):  The sixth attack on police in four days took place Friday night when armed gunmen in a pickup fired at the headquarters of the State Commission on Security, wounding two men.  One man has been arrested.

La Polaka (click here) reports indicate that dozens of state security employees throughout the state have deserted their jobs in recent days, or called in sick, due to fear of being attacked.

Yesterday August Garcia Gonzalez, a state police agent, took his wife and children to the Cordoba bridge and asked for asylum, crossing into El Paso.  He said he had survived two recent attacks against his life, and spoke of chaos and corruption within the State Commission on Security.

The state prosecutor, Cesar Peniche, has speculated the attacks might be masterminded by Azteca gang leader Rene Gerardo Santana, alias "El 300," who was captured more than a year ago but released in December.  Others have speculated the attacks on police may be due to a bust made by police against traffickers of crystal meth.  This would not explain the desertion of dozens of security forces throughout the state.

The six attacks:  The first occurred on Tuesday afternoon when a driver tried to run over two municipal police officers.  This resulted in a chase and the capture of a suspect.  The second attack took place on Tuesday night when gunmen opened fire on a state police vehicle parked under the Sanders bridge.  The third attack was on Wednesday morning, on Ave. de las Torres, when gunmen opened fire on two state police officers wounding one.  The fourth was the killing of an intelligence officer for the municipal police, who was gunned down at his home shortly after midnight on Thursday morning.  The fifth was an attack on personnel in front of the State Commission on Security on Ave. de las Torres, near the scene of the third attack. No one was injured.  Bottom line:  Two dead officers, six wounded, and one officer fleeing to El Paso.

The body of a man through to have been tortured and strangled was found in an empty lot in Urbi Villa del Cedro

Another dead body:  Foto La Polaka