NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico -- Nuevo Laredo's mayor says 150 officers will be fired and a new police chief appointed later this week as officials try to restore order in the violence-wracked border city across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas.

Mayor Daniel Pena said the officers will be dismissed for failing a screening process that included background checks and drug testing. The city will start handing out notices this week, he said.

Nuevo Laredo's 724 police officers were pulled off patrols last week to be investigated for possible links to organized crime after city police opened fire on a convoy of federal agents sent to bolster security in the area.

That shooting came days after the Nuevo Laredo police chief was gunned down within hours of taking office, which prompted President Vicente Fox to send in hundreds of soldier and federal agents to take over the city.

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