TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Drug gang hit men killed three Mexican army informants on Tuesday and dumped them near a military training base close to the U.S. border, scrawling threats on the bodies in black ink, police said.
The three men, who police said gave the army regulartip-offs about drug gang activity in the Mexican city ofTijuana near San Diego, were strangled.
"The messages were written on the chests and on theforeheads. One of them read 'You're next, we're going in',"said a police spokesman who declined to be named.
President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of troops toTijuana and other cities in Baja California, Mexico's mostviolent state, to destroy two warring drug cartels and clean upcorrupt local and state police forces.
But the army faces growing attacks from powerful drug gangswho are trying to bribe soldiers into siding with them withlarge sums of cash, threatening to blunt Calderon's main weaponagainst the cartels.
More than 2,500 people were killed in drug violence inMexico last year and at least 250 have died so far this year ascartels smuggling cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana fighteach other for control of routes to the United States.
Tijuana, a long-time centre for drug traffickers, hasrecently seen a spike in violence. Drug gang hit men last monthbroke traditional codes of honour in the city by killingchildren, including a 3-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl.
Also last month, gunmen and more than 100 police andsoldiers fought a three-hour battle outside a kindergarten inthe city. One drug gang member died and two police officerswere seriously wounded.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Eric Walsh)
