Mexico sends 1,500 security forces to southern region plagued by gangs

Mexico's government sent over 1,500 security officials including National Guard, army and police to the south of the country on Monday in a bid to shore up security in an area under increasing pressure from organized crime. The taskforce was deployed to the Frontera Comalapa region in the border state of Chiapas "to guarantee peace," the federal and state governments said in a joint statement. It comes after a video on social media went viral over the weekend purportedly showing a convoy of armed drug cartel members in Frontera Comalapa being applauded by local residents as they drove to "liberate" the town from a rival cartel.