DEA Nabs 175 Mexican Drug Cartel Suspects

Nearly 200 American cities affected by cartels

(NEWSER) - Mexico’s drug violence has been creeping northward into the US for the past several years, and officials now say that cartel-related crime has hit 195 American cities spanning every state except Vermont and West Virginia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Atlanta has emerged as a trafficking hub, but the kidnappings, deaths, and related violence have spread from Honolulu to Boston. More»

(NEWSER) - As drug violence soars in Mexico, casualties are spreading to the Yucatan peninsula, a major tourist destination and spring break hot spot. Twelve decapitated bodies were found near the popular ruins of Chichen Itza this week, the Los Angeles Times reports. That's because a government crackdown has heightened “a kind of civil war among drug cartels,” said a drug-trafficking expert. And that violence is spilling over from the usual frontlines along the US border. More»

Country sees increasing torture, beheadings, violence against women

(NEWSER) - The sixth year of Mexico's murderous war against drug cartels claimed a staggering 12,000 lives, according to bleak tallies being reported in the Mexican press that show upticks in beheadings, torture, and violence against women and children. There is no official number from Felipe Calderon's government, which the Washington Post notes has backed off promises to keep figures updated; Calderon's party faces elections this summer. More than 50,000 have now died since Calderon declared war on the cartels in 2006. A breakdown of the numbers: More»

Once-thriving city falling victim to drug cartel violence

(NEWSER) - Mexico's future may well be playing out on the streets of the city of Monterrey, says Reuters in a special report. The city had once been a shining model of entrepreneurial success, a lure for foreign companies, and a symbol of Mexico's global ambition. Now it's on the brink of succumbing to the chaos and violence associated with the drug gangs' battles with each other and the government. "The trend is worrying," says the chief executive of Cemex, one of the world's biggest cement companies. "But we won't let Monterrey fall." More»

Fed sting in border town yields top prize

(NEWSER) - Shots rang out for hours in a pitched gun battle between Mexico's military and a drug cartel, and when the dust cleared, a key drug kingpin, Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, or "Tony the Storm," lay dead along with four cronies and three marines. Cardenas, 48, is one of Mexico's most wanted and has a $5 million reward on his head in the US, and died in a sting operation in the border town of Matamoros, reports the AP. More»