Mexican authorities detained 175 police for suspected links to organized crime in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, according to reports.
Reports varied on the number of police detained in three days of operations carried out by the army and marines, with El Universal giving the total figure as 175. The arrests took place in the municipalities of Apodaca, Pesqueria, Mina, and Santa Catalina.
Nuevo Leon, which has been hit by increasing levels of drug violence, is instituting a new civil police force which is meant to take over the duties of the armed forces in fighting organized crime.
As InSight Crime has noted, local and state police in Mexico are widely thought to be more susceptible to corruption from criminal groups because many are severely underpaid.
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