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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of 500 additional Mexican Army troops have been dispatched to the southern ports city of Coatzacoalcos in southern Veracruz state, according to Mexican news accounts.
According to a report which appeared in veracruzanos.info news website, Coatzacoalcos already has 600 army troops in the area, since it is a garrisoned city. The new deployment brings the total troops in the city to 1,100. The deployment is equivalent to two rifle battalions.
Veracruz state itself is the location of Seguro Veracruz, a security operation which seeks to concentrate Mexican security forces along main shipment routes used by drug cartels. Both Mexican Naval infantry and army troops participate in the ongoing security operation.
According to news reports, the additional troops will be tasked with operating military checkpoints into the city, and to reinforce patrols in the city.
Reports also say that troops with the Mexican 29th Military Zone are the elements slated to deploy.
The 29th Military Zone is commanded by General de Brigada DEM Luis Ricardo Diaz Palacios, while the Coatzacoalcos military garrison is commanded by General de Brigada DEM Hilario Miguel Mata Aguilar.
Coatzacoalcos is home to four major petrochemical plants and is where, according to its English language Wikipedia entry, Pemex has 85 percent of its production.
Two security incidents have occurred with regard to Pemex in the last two weeks.
The Mexican national Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) or attorney general is still trying to identify the last nine victims of the 30 killed in an explosion ten days ago at a Pemex gas pipeline near Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Two days ago two Pemex officials were executed in Salamanca, Guanajuato in southern Mexico. Both officials were in charge of oil terminals in the state and were attacked by several armed suspects in the Bellavista residential colony.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com