(CNN) -- Guatemala's government has declared a state of siege and sent hundreds of troops to a northern province where officials say a Mexican drug gang is overtaking towns and threatening residents.
President Alvaro Colom announced the 30-day emergency rule in Alta Verapaz on Sunday. The rule allows the military to order anyone suspected of conspiring against the government to be arrested and imprisoned without a warrant, the state-run AGN news agency said.
"Starting today, combined forces will retake the streets of Alta Verapaz," a government statement released Sunday morning said.
Government data shows cells of the drug gang known as Los Zetas are in the area to protect drug trafficking paths between Honduras and Mexico, "intimidating the population with their heavy weapons and threatening farmers to give up their land for criminal activities," AGN reported.
The state of siege also allows the government to place greater restrictions on public gatherings, travel visas and gun licenses, among other things, according to AGN.
"The population should be calm. What we are doing is not intended to persecute honest, working people," Interior Minister Carlos Menocal told reporters.
Menocal said operations in the coming days would aim to boost regional security, regain control of territory, identify criminal gangs and capture their members.
In an interview with CNN en Espanol last month, Menocal said his country needed more help from the United States to combat cartels, which were increasingly carving out new drug transport paths. CNN
