MEXICO CITY – More than 800 federal and local police have been assigned to improve security in and around Mexico City’s international airport after a series of armed robberies of travelers who exchanged money there.
At least 18 people have been robbed recently outside the airport.
City prosecutors say the victims were evidently followed after doing business at the currency exchanges inside.
Five of the victims were foreigners; among them a French scientist who was shot and killed in January after assailants intercepted his car and stole $6,336.
The government also deployed 700 extra federal police Monday to Ciudad Juarez.
The police joined 3,200 federal troops who arrived in the city over the weekend.
Drug violence has overwhelmed the local police in the border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
More than 1,000 people have been killed so far this year in Mexico as drug gangs battle each other for territory and fight off a government crackdown.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- The police joined 3,200 federal troops who arrived in the city over the weekend.
- Drug violence has overwhelmed the local police in the border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
- More than 1,000 people have been killed so far this year in Mexico as drug gangs battle each other for territory and fight off a government crackdown.
