EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexican truckers fed up with highway robberies and violence expressed their concerns by turning a portion of one of Juarez’s busiest avenues into a parking lot on Monday.
Members of the National Transportation Association parked approximately 50 vehicles on two of the four traffic lanes of the PanAmerican Highway (Federal Highway 45), causing bottlenecks in south Juarez. Similar protests were taking place in other cities throughout Mexico on Monday.
Miguel Enriquez, a spokesman for the group, called on the Mexican government to stop the violence that has claimed the lives of at least seven truckers driving loads from manufacturers in Central Mexico to the border.
Group members said the violence is worst in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Puebla and the roads coming out of Mexico City, where organized criminal groups are targeting them. At least one of the fatalities involved a trucker in southern Chihuahua state.
‘Monsters’ gang behind drug deals, other crimes at Tijuana border crossing, chief says