Mexico Suspects Cartel in Pepsi Subsidiary Attacks

PepsiCo subsidiary Sabritas has been attacked in the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. The attacks are among the first against a transnational company in Mexico’s drug war. The suspect detained is a lieutenant from the Knights Templar drug cartel. 

The Associated Press: MEXICO CITY -- A drug cartel lieutenant has been detained in a series of firebombing attacks on Mexican potato-chip company Sabritas, a subsidiary of U.S. food giant PepsiCo. Businessmen and experts said Monday the attacks were the first coordinated targeting of a multinational company in Mexico's 5 1/2-year-long drug war.

Five Sabritas warehouses and vehicle lots were attacked Friday and Saturday in the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. Witnesses in one case described armed, masked men who tossed firebombs and torched dozens of the company's distribution trucks and some warehouses. 

Gerardo Gutierrez, president of Mexico's Business Coordinating Council, said Monday that it was "an isolated case" of the kind of extortion that gangs have previously practiced with small and medium-sized businesses. He called on authorities to act immediately to prevent the practice from spreading. Read more.