MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Cases of kidnapping bus passengers by drug dealers in Mexico to force them to join the ranks of cartels have risen in the past two weeks to three according to Mexican Federal Police, El Pais reported Thursday.
"They are not robbers. We are facing criminal groups who want to deal with people [kidnap them]," state coordinator of the Federal Police Luis Norberto Montoya told journalists.
The victims are often migrants from Central America without any documents looking to reach the United States border. The Los Zetas syndicate, deserters from elite Mexican troops and the once-powerful Gulf Cartel are thought to be behind the kidnappings. Both groups are engaged in bloody wars with other factions for the control of territories and roads, El Pais reported.
"Here, everyone takes care of his own skin; the truth is that I will not be a hero. After all they have the upper hand," a bus driver plying the Mexico City–Tamauilas route told El Pais, implying that he would not risk his life to save the passengers from drug dealers if ambushed.
But according to the Federal Police, the actions by the drug cartels show their weakness as now, exhausted by years of fighting the state Army, syndicates use any means possible to replenish their ranks.
Mexican police forces consist of federal, state and municipal branches. The Federal Police is responsible for restoring peace in the country"s troubled northern regions, which serve as a path for drug trafficking to the United States.
In 2008, the police underwent structural reforms, the main purpose of which was to better battle drug cartels and organized crime. According to the El Economista newspaper, the Federal Police will maintain responsibility for fighting drug trafficking.
