Blake Mora, 45, had been travelling from Mexico City to meet prosecutors in Cuernavaca, in the neighbouring state of Morelos. Two other government officials were also on board. There was no immediate confirmation of the cause of the crash. The interior secretary is Mexico's second most senior official after the president, overseeing internal political affairs and security, making him a key figure in the battle against drugs. He was regarded by many as an embodiment of the Mexican government's get-tough attitude on drug dealing, publicly pledging to bring the fight to the traffickers instead of backing down. Mexico is locked in a brutal conflict against drug cartels that has killed 45000 people in the last five years and seen a string of high profile massacres, and beheadings and mutilations by rival drug gangs. Blake Mora acted as President Felipe Calderon's point man, frequently travelling to the country's most violent and dangerous places for meetings with besieged state and local security officials. He was appointed Interior Secretary by Mr Calderon in July 2010 with a brief that included improving security and cracking down on widespread violence. In April, Blake Mora pledged to step up the presence of troops and federal police in the northern state of Tamaulipas after 116 bodies were found dumped in pits near the US border. More than a dozen suspects tied to the ultra-violent Zetas drug gang were detained in relation to the killings and some confessed to abducting ...

• published: 14 Nov 2011
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• author: Zumpangolandia com