Police Chief Major General Manuel Castro Castillo has announced the start of the “Quiet Christmas 2013” operation, an initiative aimed at reducing the number of accidents and tragedies during the holiday season. Some 6,000 members have been assigned to the special police patrols that will be strengthened by 150 new pickups. Castro described criminals as “the plague.” He said the problem is that the police arrest the criminals but they “unfortunately recover their freedom [thanks to loopholes in the judiciary], which makes for an endless war against crime.”