Promising to weed out corruption and make this violent border hub safe for residents and tourists alike, Omar Pimentel took over Nuevo Laredo's police force -- a post few others would dare to take.
His predecessor died in a hail of gunfire after only a few hours on the job last month and while Omar Pimentel made it through his first day without incident Wednesday, five hours after he was sworn-in, gunmen killed one city police officer and wounded two others.
Authorities on both sides of the border say Nuevo Laredo, a community of 330,000 people across from Laredo, Texas, is caught in the middle of a turf war between two powerful Mexican drug gangs fighting for control of smuggling routes into the US. Drug-related violence has left at least 70 people dead here since January.
A trio of bodyguards will shadow Pimentel's every move as he settles into his new job. He had served as director of the city's police academy and was a candidate for the job which Alejandro Dominguez took June 8.
After just seven hours in the post, Dominguez was shot seven times and killed as he climbed into his pickup truck. There are no suspects in the case, but investigators say leaders of the city's criminal underworld almost certainly had a hand in it.
President Vicente Fox sent troops and federal agents here to restore order after the shooting and all city police officers were pulled off the streets for drug tests and background checks.
The 37-year-old Pimentel has three small children and his wife is pregnant again. When asked if he feared for his life, he said Wednesday: "I'm starting from scratch, and I don't want to look back on that sad event," alluding to Dominguez's slaying.
Hours later, a truck cut off a private vehicle carrying three city police officers and men inside opened fire, killing Commander Martin Gonzalez and gravely wounding Guillermo Martinez and Roberto Alexander, according to Alejandro Loredo, a policeman.
That shooting, which came less than 24 hours after Commander Roberto de Leon was shot and wounded Tuesday, brought to eight the number of Nuevo Laredo police officers killed this year. Ten others have been injured in violent attacks.
The turf battle between key operatives from the Gulf and Juarez cartels is what is believed to have brought the city to the brink of lawlessness. Thousands of trucks cross into the US via Nuevo Laredo every day and carry goods north on I-35. Border agents can only monitor a tiny fraction of the cargo pouring over the border, making the route ideal for drug smugglers.
Pimentel's salary was not released and he said he'd rather not discuss it, adding jokingly that "I don't want people to come kidnap me for money."
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