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October 27, 2006
More trouble across the border
Following up from this post from a year ago regarding the increased drug-related violence along the Texas-Mexico border, this NY Times article reports on a particularly gruesome uptick in the violence -- beheadings of rival gang members:
An underworld war between drug gangs is raging in Mexico, medieval in its barbarity, its foot soldiers operating with little fear of interference from the police, its scope and brutality unprecedented, even in a country accustomed to high levels of drug violence.In recent months the violence has included a total of two dozen beheadings, a raid on a local police station by men with grenades and a bazooka, and daytime kidnappings of top law enforcement officials. At least 123 law enforcement officials, among them 2 judges and 3 prosecutors, have been gunned down or tortured to death. Five police officers were among those beheaded.
In all, the violence has claimed more than 1,700 civilian lives this year, and federal officials say the killings are on course to top the estimated 1,800 underworld killings last year. Those death tolls compare with 1,304 in 2004 and 1,080 in 2001, these officials say.
By the way, a fence will not stop this particular problem from spilling over the border.
Posted by Tom at October 27, 2006 4:49 AM
Comments
That story in the NY Times is horrible:
Norteño music was blaring at the Sol y Sombra bar on Sept. 6 when several men in military garb broke up the late night party. Waving high-powered machine guns, they screamed at the crowd to stay put and then dumped the contents of a heavy plastic bag on the dance floor.
Five human heads rolled to a bloody stop.
“This is not something you see every day,” said a bartender, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his own head. “Very ugly.”
Posted by: GRG51 ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blog.kir.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 27, 2006 10:06 AM
"By the way, a fence will not stop this particular problem from spilling over the border."
Tom, I'd love to hear the rationale for this statement.
Having spent a lot of time traipsing about the Texas-Mexico border, and 10 years erecting various buildings around Houston working side-by-side with (better behaved) Mexicans in the 1970s and early 1980s (Central and South Americans being uncommon at the time), I'm unconvinced that anything less than a physical barrier on the border will prevail. Other disincentives to illegal immigration have accomplished little. A fence is certainly worth a try.
Posted by: Jake at October 27, 2006 9:02 PM
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