Mexico nets 13 drug cartel hitmen

The clash, took place Tuesday in Durango City, capital of the north Durango state, also left a bus driver and a civilian woman dead, Ramon Eduardo Pequeno, head of the federal police's anti-drug division, told a press conference here.

Those arrested included Jose Manuel Moreno Reyes, 37, head of Gente Nueva, the cartel's hitmen squad that was involved in extensive extortion operations and maintained an information network on drug trafficking in the state.

Pequeno said that Gente Nueva's main task was targeting people from rival gang Los Zetas, which operates on Mexico's Gulf Coast, but the gang had also been trying to expand its influence inland.

"Those arrested are suspected of corrupting officials from the federal, state and municipal government and threatening officials who refused to support them," Pequeno said. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version