Mexican military disarm entire police force in resort city of Acapulco 'corrupted by drug gangs'

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by Kylde

Mexican authorities have taken control of the entire police force in the southern Mexican city of Acapulco, claiming the department has been infiltrated by drug gangs.

Two police commanders have been accused of murder, while the rest of the force officers have been stripped of their guns, radios and bulletproof vests and taken for background checks.

Acapulco – a beach resort – was a fashionable location favoured by movie stars in the 1950s and 60s, but has since been plagued by escalating violence due to warring drug gangs.

State police and the military will now assume the law enforcement responsibilities in the city, which has some 800,000 residents.

The state government said it took the step “because of suspicion that the force had probably been infiltrated by criminal groups” and “the complete inaction of the municipal police in fighting the crime wave”.

Last year, Acapulco had a murder rate of 103 per 100,000 residents, one of the highest in Mexico and the world.

The CIA has said the level of violence is comparable with war zones such as Syria and Iraq.

Bodies are regularly dumped on the beachfront or left hanging from motorway bridges, according to reports.

Following the military takeover, the US government repeated its travel warning advising its citizens not to travel in Guerrero state due to the armed groups that are active in the region.

Local police in several parts of Mexico have been disbanded over drug cartel corruption. In Guerrero alone, local police have been disarmed in more than a dozen towns and cities since 2014, although none as large as Acapulco.

Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures 1/50 26 September Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search for victims after a building collapsed in New Delhi killing five people, the latest incident highlighting India's poor urban planning and construction AFP/Getty 2/50 25 September US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris AFP/Getty 3/50 24 September President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters AP 4/50 23 September Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is "ready to confront America", following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US AP 5/50 22 September Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan's infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman EPA 6/50 21 September 2018 A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing AFP/Getty 7/50 20 September 2018 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution. AFP/Getty 8/50 19 September 2018 Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others AP 9/50 18 September 2018 South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Reuters 10/50 17 September 2018 Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear EPA 11/50 16 September 2018 Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong. Reuters 12/50 15 September 2018 German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland AFP/Getty 13/50 14 September 2018 Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated "I think Europe belongs to Europeans" and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries Reuters 14/50 13 September 2018 Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm Getty 15/50 12 September 2018 Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home AFP/Getty 16/50 11 September 2018 People waving pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading "independence" during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the "Diada". Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region's national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia's national day, the 'Diada' commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms AFP/Getty 17/50 10 September 2018 An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life AFP/Getty 18/50 9 September 2018 Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions AFP/Getty 19/50 8 September 2018 350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 20/50 7 September 2018 Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria's northern Idlib province AFP/Getty 21/50 6 September 2018 An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing AFP/Getty 22/50 5 September 2018 US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion AFP/Getty 23/50 4 September 2018 Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country's weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings AFP/Getty 24/50 3 September 2018 Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar's official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom AFP/Getty 25/50 2 September 2018 A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces AP 26/50 1 September 2018 A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia's transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes AP 27/50 31 August 2018 Mourners attend Aretha Franklin's funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit AFP/Getty 28/50 30 August 2018 Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray - More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city. AFP/Getty 29/50 29 August 2018 People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar Reuters 30/50 28 August 2018 President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty 31/50 27 August 2018 A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others AP 32/50 26 August 2018 Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Diciotti' in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children EPA 33/50 25 August 2018 Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia AFP/Getty 34/50 24 August 2018 US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio AFP/Getty 35/50 23 August 2018 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia EPA 36/50 22 August 2018 High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula EPA 37/50 21 August 2018 A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Reuters 38/50 20 August 2018 South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago AFP/Getty 39/50 19 August 2018 The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80 EPA 40/50 18 August 2018 Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country PID/AFP/Getty 41/50 17 August 2018 Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia Reuters 42/50 16 August 2018 A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people EPA 43/50 15 August 2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India's 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi AFP/Getty 44/50 14 August 2018 A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy. Both sides of the highway fell. Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said. The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain. It runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river EPA 45/50 13 August 2018 Turkish President Erdogan addresses the 10th annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara. Global markets have reacted fearfully to Turkey's financial crash, which Turkish President Erdogan blames on a "political, underhand plot" by Donald Trump's USA. Last week the US doubled steel and aluminium tariffs against Turkey amidst diplomatic tensions over the latter's detaining of an American pastor Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty 46/50 12 August 2018 NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona. The probe will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth. NASA via Getty 47/50 11 August 2018 An activist confronts Virginia State Troopers in riot gear during a rally on the campus of The University of Virginia one-year after the violent white nationalist rally that left one person dead and dozens injured in Charlottesville, Virginia AFP/Getty 48/50 10 August 2018 A man holds his son before Friday prayers at an evacuation centre in Sambik Bangkol village, in northern Lombok on West Nusa Tenggara province AFP/Getty 49/50 9 August 2018 A rescuers stands next to a damaged tent in a flooded camping as storms and heavy rains sweep across France on August 9, 2018 in Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, southern France. - The bad weather caused large power cuts and a man who was working in a summer camp went missing according to the gendarmerie AFP/Getty 50/50 8 August 2018 A Palestinian girl smiles as she waits to receive aids at a United Nations food distribution centre in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza AFP/Getty 1/50 26 September Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search for victims after a building collapsed in New Delhi killing five people, the latest incident highlighting India's poor urban planning and construction AFP/Getty 2/50 25 September US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris AFP/Getty 3/50 24 September President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters AP 4/50 23 September Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is "ready to confront America", following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US AP 5/50 22 September Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan's infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman EPA 6/50 21 September 2018 A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing AFP/Getty 7/50 20 September 2018 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution. AFP/Getty 8/50 19 September 2018 Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others AP 9/50 18 September 2018 South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Reuters 10/50 17 September 2018 Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear EPA 11/50 16 September 2018 Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong. Reuters 12/50 15 September 2018 German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland AFP/Getty 13/50 14 September 2018 Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated "I think Europe belongs to Europeans" and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries Reuters 14/50 13 September 2018 Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm Getty 15/50 12 September 2018 Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home AFP/Getty 16/50 11 September 2018 People waving pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading "independence" during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the "Diada". Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region's national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia's national day, the 'Diada' commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region's subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms AFP/Getty 17/50 10 September 2018 An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life AFP/Getty 18/50 9 September 2018 Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions AFP/Getty 19/50 8 September 2018 350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 20/50 7 September 2018 Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria's northern Idlib province AFP/Getty 21/50 6 September 2018 An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing AFP/Getty 22/50 5 September 2018 US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion AFP/Getty 23/50 4 September 2018 Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country's weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings AFP/Getty 24/50 3 September 2018 Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar's official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom AFP/Getty 25/50 2 September 2018 A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces AP 26/50 1 September 2018 A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia's transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes AP 27/50 31 August 2018 Mourners attend Aretha Franklin's funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit AFP/Getty 28/50 30 August 2018 Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray - More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city. AFP/Getty 29/50 29 August 2018 People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar Reuters 30/50 28 August 2018 President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty 31/50 27 August 2018 A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others AP 32/50 26 August 2018 Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship 'Diciotti' in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children EPA 33/50 25 August 2018 Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia AFP/Getty 34/50 24 August 2018 US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio AFP/Getty 35/50 23 August 2018 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia EPA 36/50 22 August 2018 High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula EPA 37/50 21 August 2018 A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Reuters 38/50 20 August 2018 South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago AFP/Getty 39/50 19 August 2018 The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80 EPA 40/50 18 August 2018 Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country PID/AFP/Getty 41/50 17 August 2018 Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia Reuters 42/50 16 August 2018 A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people EPA 43/50 15 August 2018 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India's 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi AFP/Getty 44/50 14 August 2018 A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy. Both sides of the highway fell. Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said. The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain. It runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river EPA 45/50 13 August 2018 Turkish President Erdogan addresses the 10th annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara. Global markets have reacted fearfully to Turkey's financial crash, which Turkish President Erdogan blames on a "political, underhand plot" by Donald Trump's USA. Last week the US doubled steel and aluminium tariffs against Turkey amidst diplomatic tensions over the latter's detaining of an American pastor Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty 46/50 12 August 2018 NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona. The probe will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth. NASA via Getty 47/50 11 August 2018 An activist confronts Virginia State Troopers in riot gear during a rally on the campus of The University of Virginia one-year after the violent white nationalist rally that left one person dead and dozens injured in Charlottesville, Virginia AFP/Getty 48/50 10 August 2018 A man holds his son before Friday prayers at an evacuation centre in Sambik Bangkol village, in northern Lombok on West Nusa Tenggara province AFP/Getty 49/50 9 August 2018 A rescuers stands next to a damaged tent in a flooded camping as storms and heavy rains sweep across France on August 9, 2018 in Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, southern France. - The bad weather caused large power cuts and a man who was working in a summer camp went missing according to the gendarmerie AFP/Getty 50/50 8 August 2018 A Palestinian girl smiles as she waits to receive aids at a United Nations food distribution centre in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza AFP/Getty

In the northern state of Tamaulipas, one of the hardest hit by drug violence, almost all local police forces state-wide have been disbanded since 2011.

With low pay and little training, local police in Mexico are particularly vulnerable to drug cartels, which offer them money and threaten to kill them.

Leege13 on September 26th, 2018 at 15:07 UTC »

I’m beginning to get the sense that Acapulco is no longer a tourist destination.

Sinsid on September 26th, 2018 at 14:42 UTC »

800,000 police is a lot.

MarinoAlperon on September 26th, 2018 at 14:17 UTC »

I see a lot of 'the military is also the cartel' jokes or assumptions, but they sent the Mexican Marines, which is an important point. The marines are well equiped, and are not a corrupt force like the other branches of the military, at least not yet.