drug cartel

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Legalizing Pot in California Won't Hurt Cartels

Mexican gangs will still make plenty off the rest of the country

(Newser) - Fans of California’s Proposition 19 like to argue that it would be a major blow to Mexican drug runners, but that’s just not true, according to a group of drug policy researchers. A new report from the nonpartisan Rand Corp. finds that even if legal marijuana displaced the...

US Grants Asylum to Mexican Journalist

Jorge Luis Aguirre got death threat in 2008

(Newser) - A Mexican journalist who was the target of death threats like those made by drug cartels says he has been granted asylum in the US in a case believed to be the first of its kind since the country's bloody drug war began. Death threats are at the heart of...

Mexico Subdued on 200th Birthday

Drug violence overshadows celebrations

(Newser) - At midnight, Mexico marked 200 years since the start of the rebellion that won it independence from Spain, but much of the country isn't in the mood for a fiesta. The war between the government and drug cartels has claimed 28,000 lives since 2006, and public festivities have been...

72 Bodies Found on Mexico Ranch

Military makes grisly find after battle with drug traffickers

(Newser) - The Mexican military says it has found the biggest dumping ground for cartel victims since the country's drug war began. Marines found 72 bodies in an outbuilding at a ranch in northern Mexico after a gun battle in which one marine and three suspected cartel members were killed, CNN reports....

Headless Bodies Hung From Mexican Bridge

It's a warning to US drug criminal 'Barbie'

(Newser) - Just when you think Mexican drug violence can't get much grislier comes the gruesome police discovery of four headless bodies hanging from a bridge south of Mexico City. A note attached to the mutilated corpses warned that a similar fate awaits anyone who supports Edgar Vladez—a US citizen known...

Cartel Shootout Kills 21 Just 12 Miles From Arizona Border

Gangs clashed over control of smuggling corridor

(Newser) - A massive shootout between rival drug and people-smuggling gangs left 21 people dead just 12 miles south of the border with Arizona, Mexican authorities say. The clash erupted in a remote area along a prime smuggling corridor in Sonora state, AP reports. All the dead are believed to be gang...

Mexico Busts Cop Boss Turned Cartel Hitman Chief

'El Tyson' masterminded assassination plots

(Newser) - Mexico has arrested a former police commander who changed sides to rise through the ranks of the La Familia drug cartel. Miguel Ortiz Miranda—alias "El Tyson"—is accused of organizing teams of hitmen for the cartel. He has been linked to the attempted assassination of a security...

Big Banks Laundered Money for Mexican Drug Gangs

Wachovia handled $378.4 billion in drug money

(Newser) - Some of the biggest banks in the US have been helping to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to Mexican drug gangs, Bloomberg reports. Wachovia, for example, has admitted in court that it didn’t do enough to spot the $378.4 billion in drug money the cartels handed off...

15 Killed in Mexico Tourist Town Shootout

Suspected cartel members killed in Taxco battle

(Newser) - The Mexican army killed 15 suspected drug cartel members in an hour-long shootout in the tourist town of Taxco yesterday. Troops returned fire after being shot at when they arrived at a house to investigate reports of criminal activity, CNN reports. Authorities have stepped up anti-cartel operations in Taxco since...

29 Die in Mexican Prison Massacre

10 police killed in convoy ambush

(Newser) - At least 29 inmates were killed yesterday as drug cartels clashed at a prison in Mexico's Sinaloa state. Three policeman guarding the prison were injured, and 20 inmates were shot to death when one gang forced its way into another cell block and opened fire on its rivals, AP reports....

Mexico Gunmen Kill 35
 Mexico Gunmen Kill 35 
Jun 12, 2010 10:43 AM CDT

Mexico Gunmen Kill 35

Nineteen victims were at a rehab clinic

(Newser) - At least 30 gunmen burst into a drug rehabilitation center in a Mexican border state capital and opened fire, killing 19 men and wounding four people, police said. Gunmen also killed 16 people in another drug-plagued northern city. The killings—in Chihuahua city and in Ciudad Madero—marked one of...

6 Bodies Found in Cancun Cave, 3 Without Hearts

Zetas cartel suspected after grisly find made near resort

(Newser) - Three of six corpses found in a cavern near Cancun yesterday had had their hearts ripped out, Mexican police say. "They were apparently tortured and their chests were opened to remove the hearts," said the official statement. The four men and two women have not been identified, AP...

Mexican Pirates Stalk Texas Lake

Cartel gunmen robbing fishermen

(Newser) - The best bass-fishing lake in America is being terrorized by Mexican pirates. Several American boaters on Falcon Lake, which straddles the US-Mexican border, have been robbed in recent weeks by boatloads of armed Mexicans believed to belong to the Zeta cartel. Most of the incidents have happened on the Mexican...

6 Killed in Acapulco Shootout
 6 Killed in Acapulco Shootout 
Apr 15, 2010 2:51 AM CDT

6 Killed in Acapulco Shootout

Police battle drug hit men in center of resort

(Newser) - Six people were killed yesterday after a gun battle broke out between police and suspected drug cartel assassins in the heart of Acapulco's tourist district. The shootout—in broad daylight along a hotel-lined boulevard—didn't kill any tourists, official say. The victims included a mother and her 8-year-old daughter, who...

Michelle Obama Will Visit Mexico Alone

First lady to shore up ties with Mexico in first solo trip

(Newser) - MIchelle Obama will leave next week for Mexico, her first solo international visit as first lady. Obama will dine with the Felipe Calderon and Margarita Zavala in a prelude to the state dinner President Obama will host for the Mexican president and first lady in May. The first lady plans...

Drug Gunmen Attack 2 Mexican Army Bases

 Drug Gunmen Attack 
 2 Mexican Army Bases 
18 killed
Apr 1, 2010 5:00 AM CDT

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...

Mexico Nabs 'King of Heroin'
 Mexico Nabs 'King of Heroin' 
Mar 25, 2010 4:23 PM CDT

Mexico Nabs 'King of Heroin'

'Don Pepe' shipped 440 pounds to US every month, say cops

(Newser) - Federal police have arrested Mexico's so-called "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running hundreds of pounds of heroin into Southern California each year, authorities said today. Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan yesterday.

If California Legalizes Marijuana...
If California Legalizes Marijuana...
behind the ballot
Mar 25, 2010 8:35 AM CDT

If California Legalizes Marijuana...

...you'll be able to carry an ounce, grow 25 square feet of it

(Newser) - California's ballot initiative to be considered this November would legalize use and sale of marijuana—but exactly how much pot are we talking? If the initiative passes, adults over 21 will be allowed to possess up to an ounce for personal use, and each residence would be able to grow...

Hooded Gunmen Kill 13 at Mexican Ranch

Drug violence toll tops 15,000 in 2 years

(Newser) - Hooded gunmen stormed a southern Mexico ranch last night and shot dead the owner, his three sons, four others and five police officers who battled the attackers. Investigators believe the tragedy was linked to drug cartels. The shootings follow the death of 19 people in Tamulipas county in the last...

US Agents to Embed With Mexican Drug Police

Obama administration willing to work more closely with Mexico

(Newser) - The US has hatched a plan to embed American intelligence agents in Mexican police units for the first time, in an effort to hunt down drug cartel leaders. In the past, the US has hesitated to share intelligence with Mexican police, viewing them as largely corrupt and incompetent. To avoid...

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