Mexico murders

18 Stories

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...

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...

17 Burned Bodies Found in Cartel-Plagued Sinaloa

In total, 24 were killed yesterday

(Newser) - 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...

5 Severed Heads Left at Mexican School

Discovery comes as teachers strike over extortion threats

(Newser) - Another gruesome discovery in Mexico: Police found a crate with five severed heads outside a primary school in Acapulco, reports the BBC . The victims haven't been identified. The not-so-subtle threat comes amid a teachers' strike in the once-popular resort city, notes NPR . Educators refuse to reopen schools because they...

Five Women Stripped, Throats Slashed in Mexico

All connected to same beauty parlor, but police have no motive

(Newser) - Four women and a 14-year-old girl were found brutally murdered, with their throats slashed, in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco yesterday, reports Reuters . All were connected to a local beauty parlor, although police say they don't have a motive yet. Three were found stripped and bound in the...

Body Count in Mexican Mass Graves Hits 116

Seventeen have been arrested in connection

(Newser) - Mexican authorities yesterday found 28 more bodies in the mass graves discovered in Tamaulipas last week , bringing the total number to 116. Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the grisly uncovering. Most of the victims, believed to be kidnapped bus passengers , are probably Mexican, officials say, but few...

Mexican Drug War: 59 Bodies Found in Mass Grave in Tamaulipas
 Mexico Finds 59 in Mass Grave 

Mexico Finds 59 in Mass Grave

Latest scene of drug war carnage in Tamaulipas

(Newser) - A series of mass graves in northern Mexico have yielded at least 59 bodies in a particularly grim finding in a bloody region. Police arrested 11 men on the scene and freed five people still being held hostage, reports the Wall Street Journal; the dead are thought to include a...

Amid Storm of Violence, Mexicans Find Unlikely Refuge

Crime-ridden Mexico City is now looking pretty good

(Newser) - As the bloody stain of drug violence seeps into Mexico's border towns and resort areas alike, Mexicans are taking refuge in a place that would have been unthinkable even five short years ago: Mexico City. The capital city, long known as a place where cops could be bought and petty...

53 Killed in 72 Hours in Ciudad Juarez

City has seen 8 deaths per day this year

(Newser) - The number is a hefty one even for the crime-ridden town of Ciudad Juarez: 53 dead in one of the deadliest 72-hour periods the Mexican city has recently seen. Police tell CNN that 14 were killed on Thursday; 20 on Friday; and 19 on Saturday, including a police officer shot...

13 Killed, 14 Decapitated in Hours in Acapulco

Wave of violence sweeps tourist mecca

(Newser) - This won't exactly help tourism: Acapulco, once known more for its white sand than its white powder, began its weekend with 27 drug cartel-related murders in a matter of hours. Police found 14 decapitated men, along with a 15th corpse, in a shopping center alongside handwritten warnings from a Sinaloa...

Kidnapping Leaves Mexican Town Without Police

Female officer snatched, house torched

(Newser) - A lawless Mexican town is now left without a police force after the last cop in town was kidnapped and likely killed. Officer Erika Gandara was snatched and her house torched last week by suspected drug cartel gunmen. All of her colleagues had already quit or been killed in Guadelupe's...

Mexico Says 'The Craziest' Drug Lord Killed in Shootout

Nazario Moreno Gonzalez reportedly dead in Michoacan shootout

(Newser) - The man who once announced his gang's arrival on the Mexican drug scene by rolling five severed heads into a nightclub has been killed during two days of shootouts between police and gang members, reports the AP. The death of Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, variously dubbed "The Doctor" and "...

13 Youths Dead in Juarez Party Massacre

Second party attack in a week in violent border city

(Newser) - At least 13 young people were shot dead and 15 wounded in an attack on a house party in Ciudad Juarez, the second such massacre in less than a week in the violent border city. Gunmen in three cars drove up to the home around 11pm yesterday and began shooting,...

Mexican Mayor Stoned to Death
 Mexican Mayor Stoned to Death 

Mexican Mayor Stoned to Death

Latest casualty in violence-plagued town

(Newser) - Mexico's drug violence grows seemingly more brutal with each headline: This time, two small-town politicians were found stoned to death in Michoacan, a western state mired in the country's drug war. Mayor Gustavo Sanchez and city adviser Rafael Equihua, who served in 26,000-strong city of Tancitaro, were found in...

Mayor Murdered in Mexico Slaughter Zone

Cartels try to block police probe of mass killing

(Newser) - The mayor of a northern Mexican town was shot dead this weekend amidst a wave of escalating drug-related violence in the state of Tamaulipas. Four separate bombs exploded there over the weekend—they, like the mayor's murder, appeared to be part of an effort by drug cartels to block the...

Drug Gunmen Attack 2 Mexican Army Bases

 Drug Gunmen Attack 
 2 Mexican Army Bases 
18 killed

Drug Gunmen Attack 2 Mexican Army Bases

Dozens attempt to blockade soldiers in garrisons

(Newser) - Dozens of gunmen yesterday mounted rare and apparently coordinated attacks on two army garrisons in northern Mexico, touching off firefights that killed 18 attackers. The attempts to blockade soldiers inside their bases appeared to mark a serious escalation in Mexico's drug war. Cartel gunmen attacked in unit-size forces armed with...

24 Die in Drug Violence in Mexican Resort

Violent outbreak as spring break travelers descend on Acapulco

(Newser) - A series of shootings killed 24 people yesterday in the Mexican state that holds the resort city of Acapulco, even as thousands were arriving for spring break. Two decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs, while another was found shot to death on the edge of...

Mexico Tallies 69 Murders in Single Day

Mexicans live in fear of grotesque killings

(Newser) - Mexico kicked off 2010 with a grim record: On Saturday the violence-plagued country tallied 69 murders in a single day. As drug cartels stepped up retaliation against the government's war on trafficking, Saturday's count included 26 murders in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and 13 in Mexico City. Murders...

18 Stories