Truckers block Mexican highways to protest violent robberies

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Truckers are staging protests on busy highways outside of Mexico City to protest the wave of killings of drivers during highway robberies. Trucks either drove very slowly or blocked some lanes of traffic Thursday. The protest was organized by the Mexican Alliance of Drivers’ Organizations which is demanding the government step up highway patrols. Thieves have long hijacked trucks on highways in central Mexico, but generally abandoned the drivers and their trucks after stealing the merchandise they were carrying. But now, industry groups say, the gangs often kill drivers and take the trucks to lots where they are stripped and sold for parts.