MEXICO CITY – Mexico has arrested five suspected drug gang members in connection with the burning down of a casino last week that killed at least 52 people, one of the worst attacks on civilians in the country in years.
Thursday’s arson attack on the upmarket casino in the northern city of Monterrey has deepened scepticism about President Felipe Calderon’s fight against drug cartels, putting new pressure on his government to root out crime.
Rodrigo Medina, governor of the state of Nuevo Leon, of which Monterrey is the capital, said the five arrested suspects had confessed to involvement in the killing and that the hunt for other perpetrators continued.
“From the initial indications we’ve observed the target was the casino, not the civilian population,” Mr Medina said. He said the suspects identified themselves as members of the Zetas drug cartel, which has ravaged the state and other parts of Mexico with killing, kidnapping and extortion.
President Calderon yesterday pledged to continue the fight against organised crime. He admitted that corruption among judges and police was still helping criminal gangs go unpunished. “We have to speed things up because we know the criminals have corrupted the institutions at all levels of government. This cannot be tolerated.”
Violence has leapt in prosperous Monterrey since Mr Medina became governor and hundreds of demonstrators staged a protest outside his office on Sunday, calling on him to resign.
President Calderon sent hundreds of extra troops to Monterrey after the attack, which was perhaps the worst yet to directly affect the kind of middle class voters that form the backbone of his conservative National Action Party. Surveys show the drugs war has undermined support for the party ahead of next July’s presidential election, and that it is likely to lose office.
The president pointed a finger at the US again, demanding that Congress curb illegal weapons sales across the Mexican border and stamp out the demand for drugs that he said was fuelling the violence in his country. – (Reuters)