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NEWS ABOUT: Mexico drug war

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Mexican Cartels Push Deep Into US

Cartels increasingly sending agents beyond the border

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels have long dispatched agents to border states, but a new AP investigation finds that operatives are now infiltrating much deeper into the US, with problems arising in areas from the Chicago suburbs to rural North Carolina. Typically, middlemen have been used to smuggle drugs over the border... More »

Mexico Cartels Recruit Kids as Killers

They become hit men, cannon fodder, says report

(Newser) - As if Mexico's cartels weren't bad enough, a new report explains that they're ensnaring young teens to use as killers and "cannon fodder," reports Wired . A key passage from the report (pdf), which actually takes a much broader look at the cartels in general:
  • "
... More »

Mexico: Slain Beauty Queen Had Gun in Her Hands

But investigators suspect she was used as human shield

(AP) - A Mexican beauty queen killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and soldiers likely was being used as a human shield, a federal official says. Maria Susana Flores Gamez, crowned 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in February, came out of the car first with a gun in her hands during... More »

Mexican Beauty Queen Killed in Shootout

20-year-old may have fired back at army

(Newser) - A Mexican beauty queen was shot dead in a gun battle between the military and the drug traffickers she was traveling with, a crime that echoed a recent hit Mexican movie. The body of Maria Susana Flores Gamez, the 20-year-old winner of a statewide beauty contest in Sinaloa, was found... More »

To Prove Zetas Boss Is Dead: Dig Up His Parents?

Lazcano body was whisked away, so cops need parents' DNA for ID

(Newser) - Mexican officials are considering exhuming the remains of the parents of killed Los Zetas cartel boss Heriberto Lazcano. Mexico announced earlier this month that Lazcano had been shot down by Marines. But his body was spirited out of a funeral where it was being held, reports the BBC . Now officials... More »

Mexico: Zetas Boss Killed in Firefight

'Executioner' Lazcano blamed for hundreds of killings

(AP) - The leader of the bloodthirsty Zetas drug cartel has apparently been killed in a firefight with marines in the northern border state of Coahuila, the Mexican navy said yesterday. The navy said there was strong evidence the body of one of two men killed in the shootout was Heriberto Lazcano,... More »

Mexico Captures 'El Taliban' Cartel Boss

Zetas arrest could end surge in massacres

(AP) - Mexico appears to have struck a major blow against one faction of the hyper-violent Zetas cartel. The country's navy says it has captured one of the country's most-wanted drug traffickers, Ivan Velazquez Caballero, known as "El Taliban." The drug lord has been fighting a bloody internal... More »

Mexico City Replaces All Airport Cops After Shootout

New federal officers all passed rigorous background checks

(Newser) - Following the June airport shooting deaths of three federal officers, Mexico has taken the drastic step of replacing all 348 security officers at the Mexico City International Airport with federal police. Since the June shooting was perpetrated by three fellow security officers suspected of being involved in cocaine trafficking, just... More »

Drug War Drives Mexicans to Armored Cars

It's a sign of how drastic violence is there

(Newser) - Why did Mexico soundly oust its ruling party in yesterday's election? ABC News points to a trend that might explain: Drug violence in the country is so bad that a growing number of ordinary families are investing in armored cars. "I would say in the last four years,... More »

In Ciudad Juarez, New Slew of Missing, Murdered Women

Remains of 12 people found recently determined to be female

(Newser) - The remains of 12 girls and women have been found in Ciudad Juarez in recent months, increasing concerns that young females are being targeted in the violent Mexican border city. Just six of the victims have been identified, all of them teens reported missing in 2009 and 2010; the other... More »

Benedict to Mexico: Return to Your Faith

Pope says Mass before 300,000, calls for peace

(Newser) - Under the shadow of the Christ the King monument in the Roman Catholic heart of Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI said Mass before hundreds of thousands today, urging the violence-plagued nation to "look deeply into the human heart, especially in times of trouble." The Mass was a second call... More »

Mexico: 30 Zetas Escaped in Prison Riot

And all those killed were rival gang members

(Newser) - Yesterday's riot at a prison in northern Mexico not only killed 44 inmates, but also covered up the escape of 30 members of the infamous Zeta drug cartel, Mexican officials say. "Without a doubt there was premeditation," says the governor of Nuevo Leon, Rodrigo Medina. "This... More »

44 Dead in Mexico Prison Riot

Rival drug gangs probably contributed to violence

(Newser) - The death toll in yesterday's riot inside a Mexican prison has now climbed to 44, officials say. No guards were among the dead, but MSNBC reports that corrupt ones may have helped enable the brawl. All the Apodaca prison's guards are reportedly being held for questioning. The clash... More »

15 Bodies Dumped at Mexico Gas Station

Cartels at war again in Michoacan

(Newser) - The drug war appears to be heating up again in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home state. Some 15 semi-naked bodies were found in a pile outside a gas station in Zitacuaro, Michoacan state, the BBC reports. All of the victims were male and three were minors. Police say threatening... More »

Mexico's Bloody Toll in 2011: 12K

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... More »

Zetas' New Tool in Mexico: National Radio Network

Military has seized huge amounts of equipment

(Newser) - The Zeta cartel has secret weapons hidden in Mexican bushes and rooftops everywhere: radio antennas. Current and former US law enforcement officials tell the AP that the infamous cartel has a sophisticated, nationwide radio network that helps them coordinate their movements and keep tabs on law enforcement. “They're... More »

The Big World Events You Missed in 2011

Foreign Policy lists 10 quiet but essential world events

(Newser) - What events and trends flew under the radar in 2011 but could erupt into massive headline-grabbers in 2012? Foreign Policy rounds up the top 10 "stories you missed" this year.
  1. India grows its military: India is now the globe's leading weapons importer, accounting for nearly 1 in 10
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Mexico Activists to Hague: Investigate Drug War

Human rights activists also want president, officials investigated

(Newser) - With an estimated 45,000 dead in Mexico’s drug-related violence, and a growing number of those civilian casualties, human rights activists think it’s time for the Hague to step in. A petition signed by 23,000 citizens asks the International Criminal Court to investigate President Felipe Calderon, top... More »

17 Burned Bodies Found in Cartel-Plagued Sinaloa

In total, 24 were killed yesterday

(AP) - Attacks in Sinaloa, the home state of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, left 24 people dead and 17 of the victims' bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks. Neighbors called police after seeing a pickup truck on fire early yesterday in the state capital Culiacan; investigators found 12... More »

Anonymous Takes On Zetas Cartel

Hackers demand release of kidnapped member

(Newser) - Anonymous is getting truly ambitious: In its latest video, the hacker collective takes on Mexico's Zetas cartel. An Anonymous member wearing a Guy Fawkes mask speaks Spanish and uses Mexican slang in the video, translated by the Houston Chronicle , and threatens to reveal the cartel’s associates and businesses... More »

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