EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican government says it is sending another 2,100 troops to Juarez, in addition to the 400 that arrived last week to help police patrol the streets amid a spike in homicides and other violent crimes.
“When criminals feel empowered, when they feel they have control, that is when society is most affected,” said Gen. Saul Luna Jaimes, head of the army’s 5th Military Zone based in Chihuahua. “These troops the Secretary of Defense sends are a message to criminals that we have authority, that at least part of the State does not want them empowered – because we know that in many places there is a network of protection for criminal groups.
“We are not blaming all the authorities. We know there are bad people in all levels of government. We are not making accusations, just saying that in order for organized crime to exist, some in all levels of government must be helping them.”
Luna said he expects 3,500 soldiers to be patrolling Juarez 24-7 by the end of February. The troops are coming from the states of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
Juarez in January recorded 124 homicides, the most in more than a year. The spike continues in February, with 40 murders during the first 11 days of the month.
Luna said the build-up is part of a multi-agency operation called Unidos por Juarez (United for Juarez), which is similar to Todos Somos Juarez (We all are Juarez), a strategy put in place during the city’s most violent period of 2008-2010.
“This is everyone’s problem. Sometimes people know things and they don’t say anything. This is everyone’s problem,” Luna said in a recent meeting with reporters. “We want people to trust us, to call 911 even anonymously. If we want to abate impunity, we need to arrest those who murder, rob, commit extortion and other crimes.”
The general said the army and local authorities will be in constant communication.
“It could be a unified command or not. What is important is that we are all in agreement, that we share information – we already do, but we need to do more to bring down the murders, the drug sales, the extorsion and other crimes,” Luna said.
Gen. Cesar Gutierrez Lopez, head of the army garrison in Juarez, said the soldiers plan “dissuasive” patrols in the neighborhoods with the highest crime rates and those that have few or no security cameras. He said the soldiers would use high-altitude drones with a 15-kilometer video range and set up 72-hour mobile camps throughout the city.
Gutierrez said the Juarez business community has donated sleeping tents and a trailer where the soldiers can carry gear or use as sleeping quarters.
Juarez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar on Monday said local authorities would cooperate with the army.
“We are in coordination; we cannot play with public safety matters. We’d be cowards to not address such an important issue,” he said at a news conference broadcast on Facebook Live.
(ProVideo contributed to this report.)
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