Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Disorder in Coatzacoalcos: police untrained and unregistered

Commanders of the Veracruz state police have accused Coatzacoalcos municipal police of operating amid widespread corruption and irregularities.

They reproached a lack of security cameras, insufficient training and alleged ties with organized crime.

“The police are not trained, there is no official register of officers and many are merely sinecures,” said an unidentified state police officer. “And what can I say about those connected to narco-trafficking?”

In addition, there are 40 video surveillance cameras in the city, but none is in working condition.

Veracruz state police were deployed to Coatzacoalcos after the attack on the El Caballo Blanco bar that left 30 people dead on August 27.

Municipal administrator Yazmín Martínez charged that acting Police Chief Omar Berdón Arres is unqualified for the position, and hadn’t even finished secondary school.

She denounced the unnecessary firing of a number of officers, even though many were more qualified than the interim chief. She said she had requested intervention by the state government as far back as May, because the municipality had gone for months without a permanent police chief.

Federal Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo announced on Monday a pilot project in Sonora in which local officers who fail evaluation tests are replaced with marines.

Coatzacoalcos, an industrial city and port whose economy relies on the oil industry, might well qualify for the project should the pilot prove successful.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Manchas, Mexico's water leak-detecting dog

Meet Manchas, the leak-detecting dog saving Saltillo’s water supply

0
Manchas is trained to detect the exact spot of a leak in a 400-meter stretch of pipeline, whereupon he lies down, telling water authorities exactly where to start digging.
mechanical robot "dog" with rifle in Zacatecas, Mexico

Rifle-wielding DogBot joins Zacatecas’ US $53M security arsenal

6
The state of Zacatecas unveiled a new 1-billion-peso police command center last week and announced the acquisition of a DogBot that can carry an assault weapon.
man spraying crops

Mexico finally bans DDT, along with 34 other pesticides

1
That Mexico waited so long after its hazards were exposed to ban DDT has bewildered even Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegué, who called the delay "a Ripley's tale."
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity