Federal agents headed to Juárez

Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 01/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz announced Friday that Mexican federal agents were in the state of Chihuahua and could get to Juárez "any moment now."

"We have been talking about having the federal agents patrolling the streets. We know that the federal government could be wanting to do other types of operation, but for us the best way to stem the violence would be patrolling," Reyes Ferriz said.

Mexican federal agents have intervened in several other border cities to combat drug violence in the past few months.

Reyes Ferriz also said Friday that he expected to receive 90 million pesos, or about $8 million, from a federal police fund to help pay for local police operations.

Friday in El Paso, city police and county sheriff's deputies continued to guard Thomason Hospital, where Chihuahua police Cmdr. Fernando Lozano Sandoval is recovering after surviving an ambush by gunmen earlier this week while driving on a Juárez boulevard.

Despite the presence of Mexican soldiers patrolling Juárez streets since Tuesday and the imminent arrival of Mexican federal police, violence continued in the border city.