Mexican Police Official Assassinated As Drug War Escalates

Mexican Police Official Assassinated As Drug War Escalates

MEXICO CITY — Gunmen killed a top federal police official and his bodyguard Thursday as they ate lunch in Mexico City, the latest attack against authorities waging a nationwide battle against drug cartels.

Igor Labastida was director of the federal police division monitoring trafficking and contraband, said a Mexico City security official who was not authorized to give his name. Federal police refused to comment.

Labastida's second bodyguard and a woman were injured.

The motive for the attack was unclear and police officials had made no arrests.

The assault was the latest against Mexican officials involved in the nationwide fight against drugs and organized crime.

Edgar Millan Gomez, Mexico's acting federal police chief, was killed in May outside his Mexico City apartment. Police blamed the Sinaloa drug cartel.

President Felipe Calderon has sent more than 20,000 troops across Mexico to take back territory controlled by some of the world's most powerful drug gangs.

The cartels have responded with unprecedented violence, killing more than 4,000 people since Calderon took office in December 2006.

The homicides also have become more gruesome, with hit men beheading their enemies and leaving threatening messages with the victims' bodies.

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