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ACAPULCO, Mexico -- More than 1,000 Mexican army troops amassed in this Pacific resort community and two other cities in the western state of Guerrero on Wednesday in preparation for the third widespread federal crackdown on drugs and crime ordered by President Felipe Calderon in less than two months in office.

The troops, on loan from three states in northern, southern and central Mexico, began arriving Tuesday night and were on standby in Acapulco; the state capital, Chilpancino; and the city of Iguala while military commanders were briefed on drug cartel and other criminal operations in the area, said a state official who confirmed the operation.

In contrast to a similar operation in the northern border city of Tijuana, however, military officials as yet have no plans to strip local police officers of their weapons during the upcoming offensive in Acapulco and other violence-plagued cities including the resort city of Zihuatanejo, the official said.

Instead, the troops will maintain a visible presence as they patrol the streets, set up roadblocks and conduct random vehicle checks, said the official, who released the information on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

President Felipe Calderon sent 3,300 soldiers and federal police to Tijuana -- across the border from San Diego, California -- last week to hunt down drug gangs. The soldiers swept police stations and took officers' guns for inspection amid allegations by federal investigators that a corrupt network of officers supports smugglers trafficking drugs into the United States.

The soldiers have not said when they will return the guns, and Tijuana police say they have received a wave of death threats since they were stripped of their weapons.

In Acapulco, Guerrero Gov. Zeferino Torreblanca has requested that military personnel refrain from patrolling the beachside avenue Costera Miguel Aleman, which runs past many luxury hotels, because business owners fear it will scare away tourists.

Calderon, who took office on Dec. 1 with a promise to crack down on crime, ordered the first federal operation last month, sending in 7,000 troops to his home central state of Michoacan, which is plagued by execution-style killings and beheadings as rival gangs fight over marijuana plantations and smuggling routes.

On Monday, Gov. Natividad Gonzalez of the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon, across from Texas, said he would execute his own forceful crackdown against drug traffickers, but without military help. The fight against organized crime in Nuevo Leon will involve better coordination between federal and state police agencies and rooting out corrupt law enforcement officials, he said.

Drug gangs are blamed for more than 2,000 murders nationwide in 2006 and have left a particularly bloody trail in Michoacan and Tijuana, where more than 300 people were slain last year. Drug organizations also have fought bloody turf battles in Acapulco in recent years, and the city has seen a series of executions, gunbattles and beheadings.