20-year-old Marisol Valles Garcia is the new sheriff in community

A young student, Marisol Valles Garcia, has accepted the job of law enforcement chief in Guadalupe Distrito Bravo, a community in the middle of Chihuahua, a Mexican state plagued by drug violence. Numerous of the police officers in the town have been killed or abducted. The only person willing to step up was Valles Garcia. Wed the 20-year-old student in criminology started her new position.

Woman of 20 years standing up to drug cartels

Marisol Valles Garcia told CNN she gladly accepted when Mayor Jose Luis Guerrero offered her the position as police chief. In one of the most violent towns in Chihuahua, Valles Garcia envisions a non-violent role for her 13-member force, which is mostly female and does not carry guns. She spoke in Spanish to Cable News Network. She said that she was going to use principles and values as her weapons. Valles Garcia said her goal is to set up crime prevention programs in neighborhoods and schools, achieve security in public places and encourage cooperation among neighbors to form watch committees.

Drug gangs battling each other

MSNBC reports that the Sinaloa cartel and also the La Linea gang are battling about the control of smuggling routes which is happening in the Municipio of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo in northern Chihuahua on the Texas Border. The gang war began in 2008. Since it begun, three officials from the Guadalupe Distrito Bravo were murdered. Residents in Guadalupe say that drug cartels are always out at night. It’s just a fact. They have assault rifles they go via town with. They’re generally in SUVs and pickups too. Right before Valles Garcia took office, the mayor of Guadalupe and the assistant mayor of El Porvenir were both killed.

The problem with the Mexican law enforcement

If they aren’t killed or scared away in numerous Mexican towns, entire law enforcement forces are fired or arrested for cooperating with drug cartels. The Associated Press reports that officials say low wages and inferior weaponry add to the problem. Towns like Guadalupe that are owned by the drug traffickers are avoided by soldiers and federal law enforcement, although they have taken over the main road.

Citations

CNN

cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/20/mexico.female.police.chief/index.html?npt=NP1

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/39760545/ns/world_news-americas/

Associated Press

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130704308