Mexico’s Deadly Drug War: A Look At The Violent 5-Year Conflict

Mexico enjoys the distinction of having one of the world’s most vibrant economies and is a favored tourist destination by many, with millions of international visits per year. However, the country has become infamous for less favorable reasons lately. Mexico has been ravaged by violence due to the ongoing Mexican Drug War, which was sparked in September 2006 in a most chilling fashion.

Even with the United States offering assistance to combat the powerful drug lords, Mexican drug cartels making billions in the coke and weed trade are sending clear messages that they will not be easily vanquished. Mexico is the number one supplier in the world for marijuana, with tons of the product making its way across U.S. borders. At one time, the country bested Bolivia in cocaine production, another drug that has ravaged the States for the past three decades. Heroin, human trafficking and prostitution are all also hallmarks of the drug cartels, with U.S. authorities working in tandem with Mexican officials to keep the practices at bay. Hip-Hop Wired has compiled a listing of some of the most heinous acts in Mexico due to the five-year drug war. A warning: some of the imagery is gruesome.

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Photo: Borderland Beat, AP, Reuters

La Familia Declares Power By Leaving Severed Heads On Nightclub Floor –  La Familia made its presence known in September of 2006 after breaking from the powerful Gulf Cartel by rolling severed heads onto a disco club’s floor with a chilling message: “La Familia doesn’t kill for money, doesn’t kill women, doesn’t kill innocents. Only those who deserve to die will die.” The act sparked a military response Joint Operation Michoacán from President Felipe Calderon, resulting in a bloody firefight that has claimed over an estimated 60,000 lives since.

Border Town Ciudad Juarez Ravaged By “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel – 55-year old Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman is the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, considered by United States authorities as the most powerful drug operations in the world. By the end of 2008, the city would have a reported 1,600 homicides, with Guzman invading the city and warring with the Juarez cartel in a battle of turf and dominance. Since 2008, 10,000 persons have been killed as a result of the fear mongering and battle for supremacy in the city of Juarez with decapitations, mutilations and other acts a normal occurrence.

Cartels Attack Journalists At Televisa Network With Grenades –  Cartels, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with how the media portrays their operations, sends gunmen to silence reporters at Televisa Network by flinging grenade and firing shots into the buildings in 2009 with a message: “You better stop reporting about us already. Also report about the ‘narcoleaders.’ This is a warning.” A similar attack would be repeated in 2010. As a result, Televisa provides journalists with bulletproof vests, although many reporters resigned fearing attacks from the drug gangs. Several journalists have been killed and kidnapped since the onset of the war.

Drug Gang Massacres 72 Migrants Near U.S. Border –  In 2010, suspected members of the Zetas, a violent paramilitary offshoot of the Gulf cartel, kidnapped 75 migrants from Central and South America demanding money. As the captives pleaded for mercy, the gunmen mercilessly killed the victims on a ranch in the town of San Fernando which is just one hour south of the U.S. border. Migrants often have to face corrupt police who work with the cartels and other gangs suffering murder, kidnapping and other violent acts in their quest for freedom. A Mexican human rights group reported that gangs kidnapped 11,000 migrants in 2010 alone.

Gunmen Open Fire At 15-Year Old’s Birthday Party,  Killing 13 – The city of Ciudad Juarez found itself in headlines again in October 2010 after suspected gang rivals stormed a 15-year old boy’s birthday party, killing 13 people including six females. The ages of the victims were between 13 and 32, and the attack got a personal response from President Calderon who vowed vengeance. At public meetings, Calderon would be heckled by parents of the shooting victims.

Largest Mass Grave Site Uncovered In Mexico Reveal Cartels Violent Ways – In April of 2011, authorities uncovered a large gravesite in the town of San Fernando. 177 bodies were found, with forensics investigators saying most of the dead suffered head trauma and beatings. Officials say that drug cartel roadblocks carted off the victims, who were mostly likely migrants heading to the U.S. border. The finding highlights that the drug gangs are terrorizing common citizens not related to the war on organized crime.

Gangs Dump 35 Bodies In Busy Tourist Section – Just as President Felipe Calderon was set to embark upon a new campaign to boost tourism in his war-ravaged country, drug gangs ceremoniously dump 35 bodies at a busy intersection in the popular tourist city of Veracruz in September 2011. Of the 24 men and 11 women found among the dead, all were said to be criminals and embroiled in gang rivalry. Although the timing of the event was said to not be intentional, it drove home the point that cartels will continue their violent ways regardless of the Mexican government’s attempt to squash the criminal regimes.

52 Killed In Casino Arson Attack – In August 2011, gunmen burst into the Casino Royale in the city Monterrey and doused the casino on fire, trapping patrons inside and killing 52 people. The arson attack was one of the worst mass killings of citizens not directly involved in organized crime in the county. Some reports offered speculation that the casino attack may have been part of a response to a failure in paying extortion fees.

12 Guerrero Policemen Killed By Gunmen – The fight has claimed the lives of many law enforcement officials, with one of the more recent incidents involving the slaughter of 12 police officers in the state of Guerrero back in March of this year. The officers were investigating the murders and decapitation of several bodies after being ambushed by gunmen, resulting in the murder of the officers and wounding of nine other agents. Warring drug cartels La Familia and Knights Templar are vying for supremacy in the state and notes left with the heads featured messages of threats towards La Familia.

49 Headless Bodies Mark Third Such Massacre In 10 Days – On Sunday (May 13), 49 mutilated corpses were dumped on a highway in the Northern Mexico, making it the third massacre in 10 days. Forty-three men and six women were found near the so-called “Triangle Of Death” region, with their hands, heads and feet chopped off with the bodies found at the entrance to the town of San Juan. On May 5, 23 bodies were found hanging from a bridge and decapitated near the border city of Nuevo Laredo. On May 9, 18 dismembered bodies were found in the Western Mexico city of Guadalajara inside abandoned vans.