Thieves struck another blow against rail transportation yesterday, stealing 50 tonnes of wheat in Puebla as auxiliary police stood by and watched.

Officials at the Ferromex railway consortium said thieves physically assaulted rail personnel when they attempted to call for help.

The theft occurred at about 1:00pm in the San Pablo Xochimehuacan district in the municipality of Puebla.

The estimated 50 people who participated in the robbery are believed by authorities to be members of Puebla-based gangs known as the Panteoneros and the Barranqueros.

Located to the northwest of downtown Puebla city, Xochimehuacan has become a hot spot for train robberies. Despite the large number of thefts over the last few months there hasn’t been a single arrest since February, when police thwarted a robbery in progress.

According to statistics, there were 1,986 train robberies in Mexico in the first five months of the year, with the central-eastern Mexico states of Puebla, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Veracruz seeing the largest number.

Source: El Universal (sp)