Mexico offers $2 million rewards for drug lords

Mexico offered multiple rewards of up to $2million (€1

Mexico offered multiple rewards of up to $2million (€1.47million) for information leading to the capture of the country's drug kingpins, including Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.

Mexico published a list of more than 30 men the government says are leading the country's five main cartels, including's Guzman's powerful Pacific-coast Sinaloa gang and the Gulf cartel in northeastern Mexico, whose feared Zeta hitmen are known for beheading rivals.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Mexico's security forces would accept tips from rival drug gangs.

"We don't rule out that those giving us information are part of (organized crime) groups. The important thing is to capture the wanted person," Medina Mora told a news conference.

READ MORE

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has made controlling rampant drug violence his administration's top priority and has sent 45,000 troops across the country to break up the gangs.

Last week, soldiers captured two capos, but despite a string of arrests and historic drug busts, violence surged to a record 6,300 drug-related killings last year.

Washington fears the drug war is spilling over into the United States.

The conflict is also scaring off tourists and investment along Mexico's border just as the global economic crisis drags the country into recession.

Reuters