Mexico reports largest seizures of precursor chemicals for methamphetamine

Mexico reports record seizures of drug precursor

MEXICO CITY — Two raids by security forces netted the largest seizures of methamphetamine precursor chemicals in Mexico’s history, federal officials announced Friday.

Agents seized 20 tons of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine at Manzanillo port in the Pacific coast state of Colima and 17 tons in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.

The agency did not say when the raids took place, and officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking more details.

Mexico is a leading producer of methamphetamine, according to the U.S. government.

The seizures are part of a national crackdown launched in 2006 against drug gangs. The cartels, under increasing pressure, have responded with unprecedented violence; more than 13,500 people have died in drug killings in 3 1/2 years.

Officials say most of the dead are traffickers killed in battles with rivals, but police, soldiers and even bystanders have died as well.

In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, police said at least 11 people, including two police officers and a child, were killed in less than 24 hours.

Gunmen killed eight Friday in five separate attacks, including a state policewoman who was shot in the head in broad daylight in a residential area, said Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office.

Sandoval said gunmen opened fire on a pickup truck late Thursday, killing a 22-year-old woman as well as a 10-year-old girl playing in a city park. Hours earlier, a city police officer was killed as she rode on a bus, Sandoval said.

Hours earlier, a city police officer was killed as she rode on a bus, Sandoval said.

Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, is Mexico’s deadliest city with more than 1,700 killings so far this year.

Also Friday, a Mexican Air force plane crashed in President Felipe Calderon’s home state of Michoacan, killing three soldiers. Secretary of Public Safety Minerva Bautista Gomez said investigators have not determined what caused the crash, but it did not appear to have come under attack.