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AFP - Federal authorities announced the arrest of 34 police officers suspected of corruption, along with 17 drug traffickers, in two major anti-drug operations in Sinaloa and Tabasco states.

Officials also said they destroyed two landing strips used by the cartels in statements late Saturday from the ministry of Defense and the Attorney General's office.

The operations came as a Mexican newspaper said that July had been the bloodiest month in the country since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

According to Milenio, 854 people were killed in violence associated with organized crime in the country in July alone.

Worst-affected in the ongoing violence is the border town of Ciudad Juarez, where 250 people were killed in July, according to an AFP court.

Between January and July 4,300 people were killed in drug-related violence in Mexico, compared to 2,651 killed in the same period in 2008, Milenio said.

Calderon has pledged to crush the powerful drug cartels in a massive crackdown that has so far mostly yielded more violence.

According to government figures, over 7,700 people have been killed in violence related to the drug cartels since 2006, but Milenio said the actual figure was closer to 13,000.


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