QS will oversee construction of 80 police stations intended to help in the fight against drug cartels

The Mexican government has drafted in Currie & Brown to mastermind the construction of 80 police stations as part of a crackdown on drug crime in the country.

The scheme is part of a war between police and drug cartels that began at the end of 2006. Since then more than 4,000 people have been killed, including hundreds of police officers. The original client for the stations, Roberto Velasco Martinez, who was head of the government division against organised crime, was murdered last month. There were 1,378 drug-related murders in the first five months of 2008, according to Eduardo Medina Mora, the Mexican attorney general.

The stations are the first phase of a plan to build 450 facilities to strengthen ties between the police and public and tackle soaring crime rates. Santiago Klein, a director of Currie & Brown, said: 鈥淭he government is committed to this difficult exercise and to unifying the community.鈥� The buildings will double up as community centres, and will include amenities such as nurseries for working mothers.

Currie & Brown, which is also running the country鈥檚 拢3bn PPP hospital programme, is project managing six of the schemes and overseeing the whole process. Klein said the company aims to win contracts for all 450 stations.

He added: 鈥淭his is quite a new concept for Mexico and it needs expertise from the UK, where police stations have had an important role in the improvement of communities.鈥�

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