Police chief shot himself to avoid arrest in Mexico, many officers arrested in corruption case

The police chief in a small Mexican town took his own life on Friday as the army arrived to arrest him as part of an anti-corruption raid. Other top police commanders and a mayor from other towns were also detained during the raid.

The raid was carried out on a large scale, called "Operation Swarm" by federal authorities, and took place in the west of Mexico City, as well as in two populous suburbs just on the edge of the country's capital.

Seven officers were linked to criminal groups

The federal Public Security Department said the seven arrested officers were linked to criminal groups. They were accused of crimes such as extortion, kidnapping and murder. However, it is not clear whether formal charges have been filed against them yet.

In this case, state prosecutors said that the police chief of one of the rural towns, Texcaltitlan, killed himself with his own weapon as the Marines, National Guard and soldiers were trying to arrest him on unspecified charges.

Soldiers also arrested mayor

Soldiers also arrested the mayor of the nearby town of Amanalco on various charges and detained the town's police chief and another local official. They also arrested the police chief of the city of Tejupilco, farther south.
The area around those towns has long been dominated by the violent La Familia Michoacana gang, which deals in drugs, kidnappings and extortion.

Rural areas targeted

While some of the raids targeted rural areas, authorities also detained the assistant police chief of Naucalpan, a sprawling suburb of 775,000 residents on the northwestern edge of Mexico City.
Later, they announced the arrest of a top police chief in the suburb of Ixtapaluca, east of Mexico City, where there are about 370,000 residents.