As Mexican and US officials hail the killing of top drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva, many are fearing further violence in the struggle to replace him.
Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed in a shoot-out with the navy south of Mexico City late on Wednesday, along with six cartel members.
The killing gave a boost to Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s three-year military clampdown on drug gangs, which has been accompanied by a spike in violence.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We congratulate the Mexican navy and the Mexican government on a well-executed operation that was a significant blow against drug cartels in the country,” US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington.
The US, the main market for drugs trafficked through Mexico, is fully behind Calderon’s crackdown, which involves some 50,000 security forces, and has promised more than US$1 billion in anti-drug aid to Mexico.
Beltran Leyva, accused of smuggling tons of cocaine and heroin and billions of dollars of cash through the US, was Mexico’s third most wanted man, with a US$1.5 million reward on offer for information leading to his capture.
Calderon called the navy raid in which he was killed “an important achievement for the government and people of Mexico.”
But many warned that the high-profile killing could provoke further turf wars.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of in-fighting, until a new line of command is defined,” Attorney General Arturo Chavez said on Thursday.
Beltran Leyva was one of five brothers who split from the country’s most powerful Sinaloa Cartel several years ago and aligned themselves with previous competitors from other gangs in a bid to counteract their influence.
“In all likelihood the remnants of the Beltran Leyva organization will regroup and seek to defend its territory and trafficking routes from the Sinaloa cartel,” Eric Olson, of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said.
Many said the Sinaloa cartel would gain from Beltran Leyva’s death.
“This development will only strengthen the Sinaloa position within the national and international markets,” said Edgardo Buscaglia, a professor at Mexico’s ITAM university and an advisor to the UN.
“Organized crime should be controlled not just by capturing the bosses but also by dismantling the economic and corruption networks that allow the organizations to flourish,” Buscaglia said.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS