Mexico suspects cartel in Pepsi subsidiary attacks
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Prosecutors in northern Mexico say a drug cartel lieutenant has been detained in a series of firebombing attacks on a PepsiCo subsidiary, the Mexican potato-chip company Sabritas.
Experts say the weekend fire-bombings were the most violent and concerted attack on a private transnational company in Mexico to date in the country’s 5 1-2-year drug war.
The state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos oil company has suffered hundreds of non-violent fuel thefts from pipelines and the kidnapping of some of its employees. But Mexico’s drug cartels have usually not openly attacked large private companies.
In four attacks between Friday and Sunday, several warehouses and dozens of Sabritas delivery trucks were torched.
Prosecutors in Guanajuato state said Monday they have arrested several suspects including a lieutenant of the Knights Templar drug cartel in the attacks.
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