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Approximately 2,000 Mexican federal police and military troops were sent to several Mexican cities along the Texas border Jan. 17 to reinforce 4,000 troops on counternarcotics missions aimed at reducing drug cartel violence in the area. The need for such reinforcements along the border is clear, especially in light of a prolonged firefight in downtown Tijuana the same day that required up to 500 army and police forces to be called in to assist.
The latest troop deployment brings the number of security forces conducting counternarcotics operations in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state to 6,000. The buildup was ordered after a series of bloody attacks on police in Rio Bravo and Reynosa, which prompted police in U.S. cities less than a mile away to express concerns that the violence could spread northward. While this concern is very real and something law enforcement should prepare for, the true danger continues to be of collateral damage on the Mexican side of the border.
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