Tijuana's Municipal Police chief says federal authorities in Mexico altered a few local officers' guns and he wants to know why. Federal agents confiscated all of the local police officers' guns last month as part of a massive crackdown on organized crime in Mexico. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Federal authorities ran ballistics tests on the more than 2,000 weapons used by Tijuana's Municipal Police. Federal authorities were checking to see if the guns were tied to any drug cartel crimes. They returned the weapons two weeks ago. Tijuana Muncipal Police Chief Victor Zatarain says he's since discovered federal authorities put old parts in three of the weapons.
Zatarain says he doesn't know why federal authorities would alter the guns. He says they still shoot. But he wants an explanation. Such public declarations of mistrust between local police and federal authorities are not new. Since federal authorities seized local cops' guns, minor or even perceived indiscretions on the part of the other have topped local headlines. Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
(Photo: Amy Isackson/KPBS ).
