Mexico beefs up its security operation in the northeast

CNN Wire Staff

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) - The Mexican government announced Wednesday it was strengthening its security operation in the country's drug-riven northeast by sending more soldiers and federal police to the states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

Alejandro Poire, security spokesman for the federal government, said the goal of the movement was to keep criminals from regrouping, according to the official Notimex News Agency.

But the report did not say how many forces would be involved.

The region has been the scene of bloody battles between the Gulf cartel and the Zetas. Tamaulipas is the state where 72 Central and South American migrants were found killed in August.

Poire said Mexican authorities have dealt strong blows that have weakened the groups but the violence has shown little sign of abating.

In response to the announcement, the governor of Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernandez; and the governor of Nuevo Leon, Rodrigo Medina, promised to present a common front with federal authorities in the fight against organized crime, Notimex reported.

Both leaders also demanded actions to reduce social pressures along the northern frontier and to reduce the traffic of arms toward the south.

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