Around 30 reported killed in Mexico

Just under 30 were provisionally reported as gunned down or found dead around Mexico in the period from the evening of 5 to 8 January. Nine including three policemen were reported killed or found dead on 8 December; three of those including a policeman were found in an advanced state of decomposition in the  district of Durango in the northern state of Durango, Proceso reported. The policeman, from the district of Mezquital in that state, was reported disappeared in mid-December 2012. Two policemen were separately shot dead in the northern city of Saltillo and in Mexico City, while two charred bodies were found in a car in the north-western city of Culiacán, all on 8 January. Proceso reported 19 killings on 5-6 January, most of these occurring early on 6 January. One of the victims, found in the western city of Guadalajara, was identified as belonging to the cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. Two of his brothers were reported arrested in September 2012. Separately on 8 January three teenagers or children and an adult were detained in the western resort of Acapulco with over 14.5 tonnes of "green weed" thought to be marijuana. Interrogations indicated the four were a local gang led by the adult, a 28-year-old dubbed El Chapito, Milenio reported. Police also detained on 8 January a gang of six including a mother and her 22-year-old son in the northern district of Escobedo, all suspected of drug trafficking and the kidnapping and murder of a taxi driver, Milenio reported.