On Wednesday, banners could be seen all over Ciudad Juarez touting the fact that several prosecutors and police officers have been murdered throughout the city in the last month. The banners also directly accused Juarez Police Chief Julian Leyzaola of corruption and conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The banners also threatened the life of Chief Leyzaola as well as those of his officers.
The banners read: “This is for Leyzaola. If you continue supporting the imitators and only arrest our people we will kill one officer daily so that the citizens will know how corrupt you are.”
“Leyzaola = a criminal with a badge. Sincerely, Nuevo Cartel de Juarez”
-On January 24, Officers Hector Rene Martínez Gonzalez, 45, and Carlos Daniel Chairez Hernandez, 26 were shot to death as they drove to work.
-On January 19, Officer Franco Hernandez Octavio, 33, was killed in a shootout while responding to a traffic accident.
A police spokesman said: “The police officers responded to a traffic incident report, and suddenly several gunmen began to shoot at them.”
Another officer as well as a civilian was also wounded in the ambush.
-On January 10, police commander, Juan Pablo Soria Morales, 33, was shot to death outside a downtown market. The man he replaced, Commander Victor Nazario Moreno Ramirez, was killed in an ambush in August 2011.
Since October 2010, 64 Juarez police officers have been murdered.
One of the city’s more grisly murders took place on December 20, 2011, when Officer Jose Everardo Sanchez was seen thrown into the street from of a vehicle with his hands and feet tied. His assailants then doused him with a flammable liquid and set his body ablaze.
The gruesome scene took place at 8:30 a.m. in full view of many horrified witnesses who saw the officer writhe in pain until succumbing to his wounds.
According to the Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office, the officer was burned on over 50 percent of his body and had a plastic bag placed over his head.
Everardo had been kidnapped by gunmen the night before.
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