May 11, 2008, 6:13 GMT
Mexico City - In a single week, Mexico's gangland wars have claimed more than 100 lives, including key police officials and the sons of top drug lords, according to sources and local media reports this weekend.
Much of the wave of violence has been directed against police, in reaction to government pressure that has 'affected the interests' of the narcotics traffickers, Federal Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna said.
Most of the killings occurred in the states of Sinaloa, Guerrero y Chihuahua, according to official state and federal documents.
In Sinaloa, the victims include Edgar Guzman Lopez, a son of reputed drug lord Joaquin 'Chapo' Guzman, and Arturo Cazares, son of the gang leader known as 'The Empress,' Blanca Margarita Cazares Salazar. Seven other murder victims were also discovered with signs of torture, presumed to have been killed by drug gangs. More than 30 murders occurred within the last seven days.
Victims of the latest violence include nine police officers, most notably Edgar Eusebio Millan, head of operations of the Federal Preventative Police, as well as two other federal agents and one member of the judicial police, in Mexico City.
In Guerrero, 16 people were murdered while 20 others were registered in Chihuahua. The other 25 suspected drug-related murders occurred in other states of the country during the week.
Authorities attribute more than 1,100 murders to gang violence, according to reports by Reforma and El Universal newspapers.
The reports said the murders of Guzman Lopez and Arturo Cazares reflected a war between the Juarez cartel, led by Vicente Carrillo, and rival groups headed by Joaquin Guzman.
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