Seven policemen shot to death at western Mexico anti-crime checkpoint

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Gunmen killed seven policemen at a highway checkpoint in western Mexico and seriously wounded an eighth, the Michoacan state government reported Sunday. Officers had ordered three sport utility vehicles to stop for an inspection at an anti-crime checkpoint in the rural township of Tancitaro late Saturday, according to a statement from the state Public Safety Department. But the three vehicles were carrying more than a dozen gunmen, who opened fire on police with assault rifles and then fled. Police searched for the attackers on the ground and in helicopters, but no arrests were immediately reported. The wounded policeman was being treated for gunshot wounds to the head and thorax at a local hospital, the Public Safety Department said. Criminal gangs and drug cartels use remote, mountainous parts of Michoacan state as a base for growing and shipping drugs. They have engaged in previous gun battles with the Mexican army and police in the area.