Where else but Mexico should you never assume that the cop pulling you over is actually a badge-bearing officer, even if that badge is federal in nature? La Jornada in Michoacan reported Friday that soldiers, tipped by an anonymous phone call, discovered and dismantled a body shop in Morelia that apparently specialized in tricking regular trucks into looking like federal PFP units.
The military is asking for more such tips from citizens, but the effects of a gradual militarization of civilian streets in Mexico is but one significant drawback of the soft internal war between the good cops and the cartels and bad cops. From La Jornada:
Meanwhile, 20 days after the initiation of the fourth phase of the Joint Michoacan Operation, it is becoming increasingly common to see soldiers on street corners, in parks, gardens, working-class neighborhoods, and rural roads, and whom in addition maintain checkpoints in the vicinity of the Michoacana University.
Here's the translated version of the report and the original story in Spanish from La Jornada Michoacan.
* Previously, "Fall-out from the Fernando Marti case: 'Let them rot!'"