Nearly 30,000 people have died from drug related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s War on Drugs campaign began in 2006. Worse yet, the violence is spreading. The Article, Mexican Police Killed as Wave of Violence Continues, highlights that the ambush and killing of nine Mexican police officers is the sixth mass killing in the last week; when it was printed on October 29th, 2010. In an incident earlier in the week 5 people were killed when buses were ambushed by gunman and in yet another incident the same week 6 youths were shot dead. All of these mass killings have been deemed drug/gang related. Most of this violence is taking place along the northern border but lately has been moving south towards the capital. The over 7,000 drug related killings that have happened in 2010 makes this the most violent year since Mexico’s War on Drugs began and is surely cause for concern.
Source: n.a. (2010, Oct 29). “Mexico police killed as wave of violence continues,” BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11648454
Student Researcher: Dylan Soper
Expert Evaluator: Alice Richards, United States Customs Agent working on the Arizona-Mexican border.
photo from source