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Mexican military and federal police are continuing with a large-scale security operation in a series of Mexican cities along the Texas border. The heaviest concentration of the 6,000 security forces is in the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Matamoros and Rio Bravo. Along with being important points of entry for Mexican exports to the United States, these cities also are the home of the Gulf drug cartel, currently Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organization.
At least a few key members of the Gulf cartel or its enforcement arm, Los Zetas, are believed to be surrounded by Mexican military forces, U.S. counternarcotics sources said. The arrest or killing of top Gulf or Zeta members as a result of this operation would be a major victory for Mexican President Felipe Calderon. It also raises the question of how the country’s drug trade would be affected by a weakened Gulf cartel.
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