Mexico police kill 22 in anti-drug operations

VERACRUZ: Soldiers and police killed 22 people Wednesday in counter-drug operations in three different Mexican states, officials said, as the Mexican Navy announced it was taking over security in the busy port of Veracruz.

The developments highlight the Mexican military's key role in cracking down on the country's violent drug cartels. More than 45,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when the government launched a military-led crackdown on the cartels.

In Panuco, the eastern state of Veracruz state, eight suspected traffickers were killed in fighting with members of an army unit, army commander Carlos Aguilar said without adding further details.

In another incident in the same state, two suspected traffickers were killed in a clash with the army in the town of Coatzintla, Aguilar added.

The federal government two months ago sent military and police reinforcements to Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, which has been rocked by violence blamed on the Zetas cartel.