By Dave Anderson:
Just a couple of updates from Mexico and its drug war.
According to the tally kept by Reforma, the death toll from the drug war passed the 10,000 mark this week, reaching 10,035 killed since the start of the year.
This surpasses 2009's full year record by more than 50%, with almost two months still to go. (On the sporadic occasions when the government has released it�s own statistics they have been significantly higher than the tallies kept by the news organizations.)
Additionally, according to the National Commission of Human Rights, the amount of 2010 Drug War deaths to date is equal to the amount of drug violence deaths registered during the entire six year term of former President Vicente Fox....
The pace of violence is still accelerating in Mexico. This is despite or because of the increasing federal forces that are being committed to counter-insurgency and counter-cartel actions. Most of the violence is concentrated on the major drug trafficking corridors as the cartels are hammering each other to seize profits and market share. However, as snippet #2 shows, violence is spreading and could begin to restrict Mexican government hard currency flows.
Four policemen were murdered on Thursday in two different incidents in the resort community of Acapulco...
In less than 15 days, at least 83 people have been killed by organized criminal groups in the coastal resort that once was considered a vacation paradise for Hollywood stars and foreign tourists....
The Mexican government relies on a few major sources for hard currency; manufacturing exports to the US, oil, remittances and foreign tourism. If Acapulco and a few other major resort areas that are also smuggling corridors accelerate the pace of violence as well as see the violence spread out of the black market and towards the state, tourism will decrease with the associated loss of revenue.
Cartels are getting 'desperate:'
Another drop in the bucket:
ReplyDeleteMexico drugs cartel suspects arrested in Atlanta, Georgia area.
Police in the United States have arrested 45 people they accuse of belonging to the Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana.
Agents also seized cash, guns and drugs as part of their operation against the cell, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Police said the city had become a major drug distribution centre, from where drugs were being shipped to neighbouring states.
But they said the arrests would disrupt the cartel's operation in Atlanta.
Justice officials said those arrested would be charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs, money laundering and possession of firearms, among other things.
The agents said they seized 23kg (50lb) of methamphetamine, 43kg of cocaine and more than 2,000kg of marijuana, amounting to a street value of $10m (�6.14m).
Senior agent in the US Drug Enforcement Administration John Comer warned that while the operation to dismantle this particular cell had been successful, it was just one of many operating in the Atlanta area. ...
The tunnel was found here in San Diego. It was a fairly average installation, and such tunnels are found in San Diego County at the rate of one or two per month. The news rarely bothers to report them, and this one made a splash only because it was busted when there happened to be a large amount of Marijuana stored in the warehouse at the American end. These tunnels have been going on for a long time.
ReplyDelete"Growing desperation" my ass.
They also traced a semi-truck which had left shortly before the bust and had it stopped near Temecula in North County, finding it loaded with several tons of pot.