JUAREZ -- The image was disturbing -- a young girl stretching her body through iron bars to catch a glimpse of several people who had just been gunned down. Their bodies collapsed on the sidewalk near her home after gunmen opened fire on them in apparent retaliation for the kidnapping of another child. For children such as the girl trying to see the victims, the brutality of the drug war in Juarez is causing psychological and emotional problems. Violence seems to be all around them. [continues 323 words]
JUAREZ -- The slayings of 25 people -- including women and teenagers - -- in a series of multiple killings Thursday night was a systematic attack in apparent retaliation for a kidnapping of child, officials said Friday. Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the wave of killings was connected to messages left on two walls allegedly by the Juarez drug cartel threatening retaliation against the Sinaloa drug cartel for the kidnapping. In a matter of hours Thursday, deliberate and brutal slayings took place in different neighborhoods in the city. [continues 737 words]
Three women's bodies were dumped in Juarez on Sept. 6 in areas of great importance in Mexican history. Claudia Leticia Estrada, 34, was left at a street crossing in the Colonia de Independencia. Claudia E. Tiscareno Hernandez, 22, and an unidentified woman, 20 to 25 years old, were found near 15 de Septiembre and Monte de las Cruces in the Colonia Miguel Allende. All three were killed by gunfire. Then their bodies were tossed in places with names associated with Mexico's War of Independence from Spain. Mexico will observe its independence on Wednesday. [continues 655 words]
A Wall Street Journal Roundup CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Mexican authorities say 25 people have been killed in a series of drug-gang shootings in Ciudad Juarez, marking the deadliest day in three years for the border city. Prosecutors' spokesman Arturo Sandoval says that in the worst attack, gunmen burst into a house and killed two young men-then killed four other people just for being witnesses. Mr. Sandoval spoke Friday about the death toll Thursday. He said it was the deadliest day in three years in the city across the border from El Paso, Texas. [continues 172 words]
In Rare Request, Defense Lawyer For Alleged Kingpin 'La Barbie,' A Texas Native, Asks Americans To Pursue Deportation MEXICO CITY - Edgar Valdez Villareal, a U.S.-born alleged drug lord who was captured in Mexico last week, wants to return to his roots in Texas to face trial rather than stay in a Mexican jail, his lawyer said. Mr. Valdez, called "La Barbie" in Mexico for his green eyes and sandy colored hair, has a reputation for beheading opponents in Mexico's violent drug wars. He fears that he will get killed in a Mexican prison, according to Kent Schaffer, his Houston-based lawyer. [continues 858 words]
MONTERREY, Mexico - A surge of violence by drug gangs in this industrial hub is leading to an exodus of wealthy Mexicans as well as scores of U.S. and foreign expatriates, dealing a blow to what has long been one of Latin America's richest and safest cities. The security situation is so alarming in Monterrey, known as the "Sultan of the North" for its industrial power, that the mayor has sent his family to live in Dallas, according to people familiar with the matter. The mayor's office didn't respond to requests for comment. [continues 1313 words]
US Secretary of State Angers Mexican Politicians and Raises Indignation With Idea of Sending in American Military Hillary Clinton has sparked anger in Mexico by comparing its drug-related violence to an insurgency and hinting that US troops may need to intervene. The US secretary of state said Mexico's level of car bombings, kidnappings and mayhem resembled Colombia a generation ago. She floated the prospect of US military advisers being sent to Mexico and central America. [continues 610 words]
MEXICO CITY - A debate about legalizing marijuana and possibly other drugs once a taboo suggestion - is percolating in Mexico, a nation exhausted by runaway violence and a deadly drug war. The debate is only likely to grow more animated if Californians approve a ballot initiative on Nov. 2 to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the state. Mexicans are keeping a close eye on the Proposition 19 vote, seeing it as a bellwether. "If they vote 'yes' to approve the full legalization of marijuana, I think it will have a radical impact in Mexico," said Jorge Hernandez Tinajero, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University. [continues 673 words]
TIJUANA, MEXICO - To embattled authorities here, where heavily armed soldiers patrol the streets and more than 500 people have been killed this year, marijuana is a poisonous weed that enriches death-dealing cartel bosses who earn huge profits smuggling the product north. "Marijuana arrives in the United States soaked with the blood of Tijuana residents," said Mayor Jorge Ramos, whose police department has lost 45 officers to drug violence in recent years. But just over the border in California, cannabis is considered by law a healing herb. After the Obama administration announced that it would not prosecute the purveyors, about 100 medical marijuana dispensaries opened in San Diego alone in the past year, selling vast quantities of Purple Goo, Green Crack and other varieties of super-charged pot. [continues 956 words]
Their names change, but all meet the same end: dead, in jail or on the run One by one, Mexico's notorious warlords have come and gone - household names and nightmares with a modern-day twist. Instead of Al Capone or John Gotti, they are drug cartel kingpins with private armies and nicknames like Shorty, Blondie, Friend Killer and most recently, Texas-born La Barbie. Part terrorist. Part rock star. Part legend. But eventually they all meet the same fate, ending up dead, in prison or on the run for life. [continues 1272 words]
Four women were killed in three incidents as the violence continued Monday in Juarez. The first case was about 3 a.m. when the body of an unidentified woman was found wrapped in a bedcover in an industrial park, Chihuahua state police said. There were no visible injuries. The cause of death had not been determined, but the case was labeled a homicide. Just before 6 a.m., two women were shot to death at the intersection of 15 de Septiembre and Monte de las Cruces streets in west Juarez, state police said. [continues 303 words]
MEXICO CITY-Mexico arrested seven gunmen allegedly involved in the recent execution-style killings of 72 U.S.-bound undocumented migrants in the northern border state of Tamaulipas, officials said Wednesday. The gunmen are believed to belong to the Zetas drug cartel, said Alejandro Poire, the Mexican government's national-security spokesman. Earlier Wednesday, officials said they had found the bodies of a Tamaulipas prosecutor and police chief who had gone missing shortly after beginning an investigation into the massacre. The discovery of the bodies of Roberto Suarez, a state detective, and Juan Carlos Suarez Sanchez, a local police chief, sent a chilling message to authorities investigating the work of organized crime in Mexico's troubled north. [continues 230 words]
The Kidnappings of 35 Terrorize the State Firm Pemex, Stopping Work in Areas of One Major Petroleum Basin The meandering network of pipes, wells and tankers belonging to the gigantic state oil company Pemex have long been an easy target of crooks and drug traffickers who siphon off natural gas, gasoline and even crude, robbing the Mexican treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Now the cartels have taken sabotage to a new level: They've hobbled key operations in parts of the Burgos Basin, home to Mexico's biggest natural gas fields. [continues 1260 words]
CORRE COYOTE, Mexico -- Times are good for the dope growers of the western Sierra Madre. The army eradication squads that once hacked at the illicit marijuana fields have been diverted by the drug war that's raging elsewhere in Mexico. The military's retreat has delighted farmers who are sowing and reaping marijuana. Cultivation in Mexico soared 35 percent last year and is now higher than at any time in nearly two decades, the State Department says. It's also been a boon for Mexico's powerful organized-crime groups. [continues 413 words]
Mexico's bloody drug war can be traced to seven cartel-related conflicts, the Mexican government recently reported. And a Texas-born drug kingpin recently arrested in Mexico, Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal, said Juarez was the flash point for the fighting. The government report, titled "Information on the Criminal Phenomenon in Mexico," says 80 percent of the drug-related homicides (22,701 out of 28,353 ) took place in 162 communities, Juarez among the highest. The biggest number of drug-related deaths involves Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera's battles against four other drug-trafficking organizations. [continues 1142 words]
The Merida Initiative, which supplies millions of dollars in U.S. money to Mexico for its fight against the drug cartels, has opened an office in Mexico City. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico on Wednesday announced the opening of the Merida Initiative Bilateral Implementation Office. The office allows for daily communication by staffers from both nations working together for the transfer of equipment and training programs under the initiative. The office staff will not be involved in intelligence gathering or operations. [end]
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico-Two Americans detained last year by soldiers who said they found two marijuana-filled suitcases in their truck were found guilty of drug trafficking by a Mexican court. Shohn Huckabee, 23 years old, and Carlos Quijas, 36, were sentenced to five years in prison by a judge here Wednesday. The men said Thursday that they will appeal the verdict. "We aren't guilty," Mr. Huckabee said in an interview at a Ciudad Juarez jail Thursday. "The judge didn't take into account the evidence that was in our favor." [continues 534 words]
In the First of a Three-Part Investigation, Rory Carroll Reports From the Gateway to America, at the Epicentre of Drug Cartel Violence That Has Claimed 28,000 Lives The events which have no name scythe through the valley like invisible reapers. They slice east to west, west to east, a homicidal pendulum. No one sees anything. The pair of human heads left in a coolbox on the corner of the plaza? A mystery. The 18 houses burnt in a single night? An enigma. The doctor and his family who disappeared? A rumour. [continues 2603 words]
For the first time since the Mexican Revolution, Juarez city government has canceled the festivities of one of Mexico's most patriotic holidays. "First comes the safety of the population," said Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. "Because of threats, because of criminal activities that exist in Juarez, we don't want to take any risks." On the eve of Sept. 16, mayors in Mexico lead crowds at city hall esplanades in the traditional ceremony of grito de independencia, or call to independence. [continues 577 words]
In murderous Juarez, August was especially deadly. The summer month had more homicides than any other month since drug cartels began fighting a turf war in 2008. As of Tuesday night, 322 people had been murdered in August. Before this month, the deadliest had been June, when 313 people were slain, and August 2009, with 315. "It has been a violent month," said Carlos Gonzalez, spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office. "The statistics unfortunately reflect it." On Tuesday, gunmen attacked a family party about 3 p.m. and killed four people, three of whom were siblings. [continues 388 words]