Gunmen ambush Mexican police, killing 10 officers

[Scurrilous]

Source: Associated Press

<snip>

"Gunmen killed 10 federal police officers Monday in an ambush near a high school in western Mexico, staging one of the deadliest attacks on security forces since the government stepped up its fight with drug cartels.

The latest in a series of mass slayings came as President Felipe Calderon defended his crackdown on traffickers in an essay on his office's website. He vowed he won't back down despite criticism that violence has only surged since he deployed thousands of troops and federal police in late 2006 seeking to crush the cartels."

<snip>

"In the Monday ambush in Calderon's home state of Michoacan, officers were returning from a patrol when they came under fire in the city of Zitacuaro, the federal Public Safety Department said in a statement.

An unspecified number of officers were wounded and were taken to hospitals in Mexico City and the Michoacan state capital, Morelia, the statement said. It said several assailants were also killed or wounded, but officials did not provide a number."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

---

Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican drug cartels now control parts of Arizona

<snip>

"Two men shot earlier this week could be the result of the ongoing battle between Mexican drug cartels now spilling over deep into Arizona, officials say.

Pinal County investigators say an area known as the smuggling corridor now stretches from Mexico's border to metro Phoenix.

The area, once an area for family hiking and off road vehicles has government signs warning residents of the drug and human smugglers.

Night vision cameras have photographed cartel members with military arms delivering drugs to vehicles along Highway 8.

"We are three counties deep. How is it that you see pictures like these, not American with semi and fully automatic rifles. How is that okay?" asked Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

Babeu said he no longer has control over parts of his county.

"We are outgunned, we are out manned and we don't have the resources here locally to fight this," he said at a Friday news conference."

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/06/pinal-county-sheriff-mexican-drug.html


Meanwhile...

20 inmates shot dead during Mexico prison battle

<snip>

"Twenty inmates were shot to death Monday when a group of prisoners attacked another gang inside a prison in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, authorities said. Two policemen guarding the prison were wounded.

The lock-up in the Pacific coast city of Mazatlan was quickly brought under control and investigators found two pistols and an assault rifle inside, said Martin Gastelum, a spokesman for the Sinaloa state prosecutors' office."

<snip>

"Sinaloa state Public Safety Secretary Josefina Garcia told Radio Formula that one of the two police officers wounded was in serious condition.

Garcia said 17 of the dead were among the inmates attacked and three were with the attackers.

Local media said those attacked were apparently members of the Zetas drug gang, which is battling the powerful Sinaloa cartel, but officials were unable to confirm that."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_prison_riot

[lib2DaBone]

1. The WOD. All this thanks to a green leafy weed that grows in Parking lots.

When Nixon started this he knew how to control dissenters... and reap Millions for the Banksters at the same time. Voila.. the war-on-drugs.

[Adsos Letter]

5. "...thanks to a green leafy weed that grows in Parking lots."

Have you ever sampled the stuff that grows in parking lots and ditches in, say, the Midwest?

Headache.City. :D

Just kidding; I take your point, and agree with it.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Legalize, Legalize, Legalize.

People are dying over our misguided WOD policy.

[Socal31]

3. To play DA, how many countries are this drug utopia you are asking for?

We aren't going to be the first "major" country to fully legalize, especially considering we are so far "right" on everything else.

Hell, the UN is bitching about how lax my state is getting with the most harmless of them all, MJ.

[Adsos Letter]

4. um...

not sure I understand this question: "how many countries are this drug utopia you are asking for?"

In any case, I am a Californian also, and I think they need to start by fully legalizing marijuana, including an adult's ability to grow a certain number of plants for themselves.

EDIT: Nevermind the impertinent question; I came back to it, and it was quite clear. :blush:

I don't care how many other countries are "drug utopias," and I don't expect this country to become one. I want them to end policies regarding Marijuana that are fueling the violence, and the needless incarceration of pot users.

[babylonsister]

6. And let's not forget the revenue CA would reap were that

evil weed legalized.

:hi:

[Fumesucker]

7. Yeah, like that's *ever* going to happen..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Kerlikowske

<i>In a May 22, 2009 interview on KUOW radio, he said any drug ‘legalization’ would be “waving the white flag” and that “legalization is off the the charts when it comes to discussion, from my viewpoint” and that “legalization vocabulary doesn’t exist for me and it was made clear that it doesn’t exist in President Obama’s vocabulary.” Specifically about marijuana, he said, “It’s a dangerous drug” and about the medical use of marijuana, he said, “we will wait for evidence on whether smoked marijuana has any medicinal benefits – those aren’t in.”

[Scurrilous]

8. Mexico's deadly drug violence claims hundreds of lives in past 5 days

"An explosion of drug violence in Mexico has killed hundreds of people in the past five days and prompted the country's president to issue a 5,000-word manifesto warning that the fight against organized crime must continue "or we will always live in fear."

As the latest spasm of killing has spread across the country, cartel assassins, local thugs and federal troops have died in running gun battles, highway ambushes and prison melees. On Tuesday, shooting broke out in the popular tourist town of Taxco, south of the Mexican capital. Mexican army troops, acting on a tip, raided a house and a firefight ensued, leaving 14 gunmen dead.

The string of grisly attacks since Thursday has included the execution-style killing of 19 drug addicts in a rehabilitation clinic and several assaults targeting police, including an ambush this week that killed 12 federal officers.

In an editorial printed in newspapers nationwide Monday, President Felipe Calderón defended his drug war as vital to the country's security. More than 23,000 people have died in drug-related violence since December 2006, when Calderón first sent the Mexican military into the streets, according to a government report.

The president directly blamed the United States.

"The origin of our violence problem begins with the fact that Mexico is located next to the country that has the highest levels of drug consumption in the world," Calderón wrote. "It is as if our neighbor were the biggest drug addict in the world."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061503174.html


Civil War in Mexico

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/06/civil-war-in-mexico.html