Head of 'Blondies' cartel arrested in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Federal police say one of the United States' most-wanted drug traffickers has been arrested at Mexico City's airport.

U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to $5 million for Luis Rodriguez Olivera, or "Whitey." Olivera and his brother Esteban are accused of smuggling tons of cocaine and methamphetamine into Europe and the U.S.

Luis Olivera was indicted in U.S. federal court in 2009 on cocaine-smuggling conspiracy and related charges. Federal police said in a statement that the 39-year-old, red-haired suspect was arrested Tuesday.

His gang was known as "The Blondies." Authorities say it formed temporary allegiances with bigger Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel.

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Three U.S. citizens killed in Mexico attacks

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Three U.S. citizens were among those killed when gunmen attacked buses in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, said a U.S. State Department official said on Saturday.

The three were traveling for the holidays when they and several other passengers on the bus were killed by gunmen on Thursday, according to the U.S. official and local media.

The incident was one of several that day in which gunmen attacked busses in the eastern state, a major oil export hub that has lately become a flashpoint for drug gang violence.

On Friday, the tortured bodies of 10 people were found in northern Veracruz, local media reported, as attacks in the region intensify between the Zetas gang and Gulf drug cartels.

In September, 35 bodies were dumped along a downtown highway in the Veracruz city of Boca del Rio.

More than 45,000 people have been killed in cartel-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker)

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Mexico to cull 50,000 wild boars from US invasion

Mexican officials have unveiled plans to slaughter some 50,000 wild boars that have crossed the border from the United States and now threaten agriculture in Mexico.

The Ministry of Environment in Chihauha state said some 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of farmland in the border town of Ojinaga have been affected by the large number of feral pigs that have come from Presidio County, Texas.

"We must get rid of these European wild boars because they sleep overnight on US soil during the day and cross over to the Mexican side to feed," Ignacio Legarreta, a state official, told local media.

The boars of European origin, which were imported to Texas as pets and then replicated in the wild, have caused serious damage to the flora and fauna of the area, officials said.

"They have reproduced to reach more than 50,000 animals that threaten the area," said Legarreta.

The authorities intend to use cages with food inside to trap the animals.

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