Mexico Border City Fights to Restore Law

Alejandro Dominguez was the only person brave enough to be police chief. Hours after he took office, assailants riddled his body with dozens of bullets in this city wracked by a turf battle between Mexico's two main drug gangs.The streets were virtually empty Thursday, a day after the killing, with only a handful of federal police armed with rifles and automatic weapons making routine patrols in pickup trucks and army vehicles."We are defenseless," attorney Zorina Medrano said at City Hall. "It's obvious that the criminals are better organized (than the authorities.) They sent the national army and even they weren't respected. Who else can we ask for help?"

Dominguez's violent death was the latest blow to Nuevo Laredo, a city across from Laredo, Texas, that has been crippled by a wave of drug-related violence. Since January, more than 60 people — including several police officers — have been killed there.