Mexico increases airport security

MEXICO CITY (AP) - More than 800 federal and local police have been assigned to improve security in and around Mexico City's international airport. That is after a series of armed robberies against travelers who exchanged money there.

At least 18 people have been robbed recently outside the airport. City prosecutors said they apparently were followed after doing business at the currency exchanges inside, according to city prosecutors.

Five of the victims were foreigners, and among them was a French scientist who was shot and killed in January after assailants intercepted his car and stole $6,336. The government also deployed 700 extra federal police Monday to Ciudad Juarez. The police joined 3,200 federal troops who arrived in the city over the weekend.

Drug violence has overwhelmed the local police in the border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. More than 1,000 people have been killed so far this year in Mexico as drug gangs battle each other for territory and fight off a government crackdown.
 

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