Mexican Police authorities encounter increasing criminal activities along international border

Rosarito, B. Cfa., Mexico - Rosarito Police Chief Carlos Bowser was was riddled with bullets on Saturday morning, May 21, 2005, as he left his house.

Authorities detained, and later released, five suspects, and confiscated three cars in the hours following the killing.

Police found guns and masks inside the vehicles.

Bowser had been named police chief in December and vowed to eliminate drug houses in the city. He also promised to establish order within the Rosarito police Department.

Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, May 21, 2005— A federal police officer was killed in a late-night shooting Friday which left three others dead, a Mexican newspaper reported.

At about 1 a.m. along the Las Fuentes colonia, a group of federal officers was confronted by armed men driving a white Dodge Ram, which led to a 30-minute shootout with federal agents.
Pedro Moreno Feria, the federal officer killed, received a bullet wound through his arm so severe that it ruptured his heart and lungs. He was taken to a local hospital but later died as a result of his injuries, sources said.

The events unfolded as the driver of the Dodge Ram led federal police on a high-speed chase, during which shots were fired from both sides. The chase ended in front of Taller de Transportes Garza Herrera, a commercial area of Reynosa.

Once the chase ended, federal agents, with the help of other law enforcement agencies, surrounded the truck and ordered those inside to surrender, officials said. When they did not give up, agents fired several shots at the truck, killing two. The driver of the Dodge Ram ran, leading agents on a second chase in which more rounds were fired. He was later slain by his pursuers.

U.S. authorities last month reissued a warning to U.S. travelers in response to a surge in violence linked to drug trafficking in Mexico near the U.S. border. Mexican officials have said they are working to improve security in the border region, while suggesting the United States overreacted.