Nieto adviser plots new drug crackdown

MEXICO: The top security adviser for Mexico’s incoming president is recommending the creation of elite units of police and troops who will target major drug traffickers and lower-level hitmen as a way of swiftly reducing violence.

The proposal by newly-retired Colombian police chief, General Oscar Naranjo (above) offers a glimpse of how Mexico’s president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto might fulfil his promise to slash the number of murders and kidnappings by 50 per cent during his six years in office. Nieto was elected in a disputed victory last week.

More than 47,500 people have been killed in drug-related violence since outgoing president Felipe Calderon launched a military-led offensive against Mexico’s cartels nearly six years ago.