PrintDecember 3, 2010
Mexican drug cartel murders female police chief
Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon assumed power in 2006, the escalating drug wars have claimed more than 30,000 lives. In the border state of Chihuahua the violence is out of control, once peaceful villages and towns face the grim reality of life on the front lines. Police departments in many towns find it all but impossible to hire officers to fill their decimated ranks.
On October 9 of this year the town of Meoqui hired 38 year-old lawyer Hermila Garcia to head their police department. Hermila Garcia was a remarkable young lady who chose to accept the position as Chief of Police despite the inherent danger that accompanied the high-profile job. Her legal training and commitment to the safety of her community made Garcia an excellent choice.
CBS reports that Chief Garcia was murdered on her way to work Monday morning by “a convoy of gunmen.”
The assailants intercepted her in the town of Los Garcia, some 10 kilometers from Meoqui around 7:20 a.m. Monday. Garcia was in charge of up to 90 police agents in a mostly agricultural region of the Chihuahua state, some 70 kilometers south of Chihuahua City, the capital of the state.“La Jefa,” as she was known to her police agents, didn’t carry weapons or have bodyguards.“If you don’t owe anything, you don’t fear anything,” she was fond of saying when asked why she didn’t have security.Mexican media reported that Garcia was single and lived with her parents, whom she supported financially.
The cowardly murder of this dedicated and intelligent young lady by a group of heavily armed thugs is yet another outrage against the people of Mexico. The drug cartels bloody battle to control the lucrative drug and human trafficking routes into the United States are just one of the unintended consequences of our government’s failure to secure our borders.
December 3, 2010
