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Mexican Drug War

(2006-Present)

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Mexican Soldier in the Acapulco Shootout of June 8, 2009

Acapulco Shootout in June, 2009

 

Mexico's Drug War

Mexican Flag

 

  See also Wars and Conflicts of Mexico

 
 

The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place between various drug cartels and organizations and the Mexican government. The government attempted crack down on the drug organizations through arrests of high-level leaders and other figures in the drug trade, but as some cartels are dismantled or become leaderless due to arrest or death, new, often more violent power struggles begin over leadership of the cartels. The current situation is largely a result of the fact that Mexico is a main conduit for illegal drugs flowing into the United States, and the drug-producing and smuggling organizations known as cartels, have become very rich, powerful, and well-armed as they grow and protect their business interests. The Mexican government,led by newly-elected President Felipe Calderón ordered a force of 6,000 armed soldiers on December 11 of 2006, to the state of Michoacán to stop the increasingly violent warfare between rival drug cartels. The cartels responded with violent attacks on Mexican police and military forces. At least 4,100 people, including over 450 government police and troops have died in the Drug War since December, 2006.

On June 8, 2009, a fierce gunbattle between the Mexican army and drug cartel gunmen in Acapulco, resulted in 16 dead gunmen and two dead soldiers.

The Mexican Drug War raged on througout 2010, claiming 8,528 more lives in 2010. As of October, 2010, the total loss of life in Mexico in this war ran to 27,903.

Below is a list of major acts of violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and declared war on the criminal drug cartels. More than 30,000 people have died in drug-related violence since that date.

 

-- September 15, 2008 - Suspected members of the Zetas drug gang tossed grenades into a crowd celebrating Mexico's independence day in the western city of Morelia, killing eight people and wounding more than 100.

 

-- Jan 31, 2010 - Suspected cartel hitmen killed 13 high school students and two adults at a party in Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas.

 

-- March 13, 2010 - Hitmen killed three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez in March, provoking "outrage" from U.S. President Barack Obama.

 

-- March 28, 2010 - Gunmen in northwestern Durango state killed 10 people, as young as 8 years old, after the pick-up truck they were traveling in sped through a roadblock on a highway in the drug-producing "Golden Triangle" region.

 

-- June 7, 2010 - Police pulled 55 bodies out of a mine in the colonial town of Taxco near Mexico City over several days. Some bodies were in advanced states of decomposition.

 

-- June 11, 2010 - Two dozen heavily armed gunmen burst into a drug rehabilitation clinic in the northern city of Chihuahua and killed 19 addicts, ranging in age from 18 to 25.

 

-- June 28, 2010 - Suspected cartel hitmen shot and killed a popular gubernatorial candidate in the northern state of Tamaulipas in the worst cartel attack on a politician to date. Rodolfo Torre, 46, and four aides from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, were ambushed on their way to a campaign event for the July 4 state election.

 

-- July 15, 2010 - A 22-pound car bomb killed four people in Ciudad Juarez in a blast detonated by cell phone, the first such attack since Calderon took office.

 

-- July 18, 2010 - Gunmen burst into a birthday party in the northern city of Torreon, using automatic weapons to kill 17 party-goers and wound 18 others. Mexican authorities later said those responsible were incarcerated cartel hitmen let out of jail by corrupt officials. The killers allegedly borrowed weapons and vehicles from prison guards and later returned to their cells.

 

-- July 24, 2010 - Police unearthed 51 bodies in a grave outside Mexico's business capital Monterrey in northern Mexico over several days. Some corpses were burned beyond recognition.

 

-- August 18, 2010 - The body of the mayor of Santiago, a colonial tourist town near Monterrey, was dumped on a rural road, two days after he was taken from his home. Calderon condemned the killing of Edelmiro Cavazos, the latest attack on public officials in the drug war.

 

-- August 25, 2010 - Mexican Marines found 58 men and 14 women at a ranch near the Gulf of Mexico in Tamaulipas state, some 90 miles from the Texas border, after a firefight with drug hitmen in which three gunmen and a marine died.

 

-- October 22, 2010 - Suspected drug hitmen killed 14 people, mainly teenagers, at a birthday party in Ciudad Juarez.

 

-- October 24, 2010 - In Tijuana across the border from San Diego, California, hitmen shot and killed 14 people at a drug rehab clinic, the most violent attack this year in a city that appeared to be enjoying an improvement in security.

 

-- October 27, 2010 - Gunmen opened fire on staff and customers in a car wash on the outskirts of the city of Tepic in Nayarit state in western Mexico, killing 15 people working there.

 

 
  
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 Mexican Pot

Several tons of marijuana seized by Mexican authorities in a giant pot bust in October, 2010

 Sources:

Giant Pot Bust in Mexico--Current Events in America and the World, Oct. 19, 2010

Acapulco shootout leaves 18 dead--LA Times, June 8, 2009

Swine flu scare doesn’t stop Mexico’s drug war--Houston Chronicle, May 2, 2009

Mexico says 8 killed in attack on police convoy--Associated Press, April 19, 2009

ANALYSIS-Mexico drug war, economy hobble Calderon's ambitions--Reuters, April 6, 2009

Drug gangs drive off cops, terrorize Mexican town--Associated Press, Feb. 16, 2009

50 dead in seven days in Mexico's drugs war--Times Online.uk, Oct. 6, 2008

 

 


Please cite this source when appropriate:

Lee, R. "The Mexican Drug War"

http://www.historyguy.com/mexico_drug_war.htm


Copyright © 1998-2012 Roger A. Lee; Last Modified: 02.18.12

"The History Guy" is a Registered Trademark.

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