DEATH FOR BANDITS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 886, 1 February 1930, Page 34

DEATH FOR BANDITS

MEXICO CHECKS MOTOR HOLD-UPS “TAKEN OUT AND SHOT” Highway robbery has been made a capital offence in Mexico under a decree just issued by President Emilo Portes Gil. All men accused of this crime are dealt with by military tribunals, and upon conviction are immediately marched before a firing squad. This penalty applies to all who hold up motor-cars on the roads, even though the raid is without spoils, reports the Mexico City correspondent of the London “Daily Express.” Sis bandits were recently shot in the town of Tlaxcala following their conviction by a court-martial for having robbed a paymaster of £SOO and killing him. This drastic measure has struck terror into the hearts of marauders, and since this wholesale execution the roads between the capital and nearby communities have been free of robbers. Time was when the motorist took bis or her life in their hands when they ventured out of Mexico City. Hold-ups were a matter of course and cold-blooded murders were not infrequent. Some ghastly crimes have been committed on the roads out of Mexico City. Several foreigners have been killed or wounded.