U.S. Heavy Weapons Are Ending Up In The Hands Of Mexico's Drug Cartels

America's Third War: Is The U.S. Arming Mexican Cartels? -- FOX News

If you ever watch video or look at pictures of the drug war in Mexico, you'll notice some pretty heavy weapons. This is a war being waged with rockets and plastic explosives, not pea shooters and Saturday Night Specials. Consider these incidents:

- A M26A2 fragmentation grenade used against a U.S. Consulate in Mexico in 2008

- Explosive projectiles and 21 grenades found during a raid in Guadalupe

- An unexploded grenade and pull ring used to attack a TV station in Monterrey

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Update: Mexican drug gangs being armed with U.S. weapons -- Daily Mail

My Comment: The drug cartels are flushed with so much money .... that they can realistically buy weapons anywhere. But still .... with so many American weapons now fueling this conflict, a better U.S. - Mexican strategy to counter this flow of mayhem must be formulated. My suggestion to combat this trade .... and one that was used in Quebec, Canada when we had our biker/drug war in the 1990s .... complete seizure of assets and long prison terms for the arms traffickers.

The Body Count From Mexican Mass Graves Approaches 300

Body Count From Mexican Mass Graves Nears 300 -- Reuters

The number of murder victims unearthed in mass graves in northern Mexico this month has risen to 279, making it easily the worst discovery of its kind since the government began a campaign against drug cartels.

Attorney General Marisela Morales said on Tuesday the body count from 40 graves in the border state of Tamaulipas had risen to 183 while an official in the state of Durango, farther west, said 96 older corpses had been uncovered in two separate finds.

"The excavations will continue today and they will probably find more bodies," the Durango official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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My Comment: 183 bodies found in the rural region of Tamaulipas State, 96 bodies found so far in Durango city .... and more bodies are expected to be recovered in both regions. With all of this news, it should not be a surprise that the U.S. has broadened its Mexico travel warning.

More Bodies Found On Mexico's Killing Fields

Mexican Drug War Toll Rises With Mass Graves -- Financial Times

Not so long ago, San Fernando, a small community in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, was best known for its agriculture and sleepy rural charm. Today, it is known for its killing fields.

In recent days, police have uncovered dozens of mass graves filled with the latest victims from the country’s bloody drug wars. And the figures keep piling up: this week, authorities in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, confirmed the discovery of another 32 bodies in eight graves, bringing the total so far to 177.

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More News On Mexico's Drug Wars

32 more corpses found in Mexico pits, total at 177 -- AP
Body Count from Mexico Mass Graves Stands at 177 -- Latin American Herald Tribune

Another Mass Grave Uncovered in Mexico -- Voice of America
Mexican authorities find 37 in new mass grave -- Reuters
Mexican mass grave yields 26 bodies -- CNN
Mass grave found in Durango, Mexico -- BBC
Remains of 58 People Unearthed in Northern Mexico -- Latin American Herald Tribune

My Comment: I suspect that these discoveries are only the tip of the iceberg.

Mexico Drug Cartel laden ladenfam -- April 19, 2011

Drug War Killings In Mexico Grisly Beyond Words -- Washington Times

Slang terms created as a way to deal with reality.

MEXICO CITY | There are a half-dozen words for drug cartel informants, and double that for drug war dead. “Narco” has become a general prefix.

The trend has people worrying that Mexico is developing a kind of offhand jargon that anesthetizes people by making escalating violence seem routine.

Some observers, however, say slang and euphemisms can help people deal with the horrors around them.

Slang for those killed in Mexico’s bloody drug war depends on how the victims are found. “Encobijados” are bodies wrapped in blankets. “Encajuelados” are those stuffed in car trunks. “Encintados” are suffocated in packing tape.

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More News On Mexico's Drug Cartel Wars

Judge orders cops in Mexico mass graves case held in custody -- FOX News
16 Mexican police held over alleged drug gang link -- AFP
Mexico judge orders 16 police detained for 40 days -- AP
Mexico's Tamaulipas police chief sacked after killings -- BBC
Mexico Arrests Suspect in Mass Grave Massacre -- Voice of America
Mexican police arrest suspects in car bombing -- FOX News
'More will die': Mexico drug wars claim U.S. lives -- MSNBC
2010: U.S. Deaths In Mexico Tripled -- US Election News
Mexican drug war denies reality -- The Australian
Mexican drug cartels considered terrorists? -- CNN
The price of Mexico's 'drugs war' -- BBC
How the Cartels Work -- Rolling Stone

The Slaughter In Mexico Continues

Police officers wearing face masks stand guard next to a truck, containing 76 bodies found in mass graves in northern Mexico. (Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters)

Body Count From Mass Graves In Mexico Rises To 145 -- L.A. Times

Sixteen police officers are arrested for allegedly providing cover to drug-cartel gangsters suspected in the slayings. The graves were found near the northern Mexico town of San Fernando, where the arrested officers worked.

The number of bodies pulled from mass graves in northeastern Mexico has risen to 145, officials said Friday, following the arrest of 16 police officers for allegedly providing cover to drug-cartel gangsters suspected in the grisly slayings.

Morelos Canseco, a senior government official for the state of Tamaulipas where the clandestine burials were discovered, said another 23 bodies were extracted Thursday. Unlike the previous victims who are thought to be passengers kidnapped recently from buses, the latest corpses had apparently been buried for a much longer time, Canseco said in a radio interview.

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More News On the Latest Tragedy In Mexico

Mexico Discovers 145 Corpses in Mass Graves -- Voice of America
Mexico victims overwhelm border morgues -- Houston Chronicle
At Mexico Morgue, Families of Missing Seek Clues -- New York Times
Mexico Mass Graves: 145 Bodies and Counting -- Latin American Herald

State of Corruption: 16 Mexican Cops Arrested in Connection with Mass Graves -- FOX News
Officers Arrested Over Mexico Mass Graves; Death Toll Climbs to 145 -- AolNews.com
16 Officers Arrested in Mexico Deaths -- New York Times
16 police officers arrested in connection with Mexico mass graves -- L.A. Times
In Mexico, 16 police officers held in grave probe -- SFGate/Washington Post

This Accurately Sums Up The Reason Why Mexico`s War Against The Drug Cartels Is Failing

16 Mexico Police Officers Held, Accused Of Aiding Cartels In Massacres -- L.A. Times

The federal attorney general's office identifies the 16 as municipal police in the Tamaulipas town of San Fernando, near where more than 120 bodies have been found in the last week in mass graves.

Sixteen police officers have been arrested for allegedly providing cover to drug-cartel gangsters suspected in the grisly slaying of more than 120 people whose bodies are being pulled from mass graves in northeastern Mexico.

The federal attorney general's office, in a statement, identified the 16 as members of the municipal police force in the town of San Fernando, near where the bodies were found.

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My Comment: When law enforcement officers (en mass) are employed by drug groups to commit mass murder, your entire strategy to combat this war on the local level falls apart. In the Mexican state of Tamaulipas (in the town of San Fernando) .... this is obviously now the case.

Mass Murder And Mass Graves Now The Norm In Tamaulipas State

Death Toll In Mass Graves In Mexico Reaches 116 -- L.A. Times

As authorities unearth 28 more bodies in Tamaulipas state while investigating bus kidnappings, the federal government sends in more troops to monitor highways. Officials have arrested 17 people in the case.

Mexican authorities Tuesday reported the discovery of 28 more bodies in a northeastern state, bringing to 116 the number of dead unearthed since officials began investigating mass kidnappings of bus passengers.

As horror mounts over the savagery in Tamaulipas, federal officials said they had sent in more troops and would carry out "constant monitoring" of highways in the violence-ravaged border state.

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More News On Mass Graves Of Murdered Victims Found In Mexico

Death toll in Mexican mass graves rises to 116 -- Reuters
Drug gang blamed for mass killing of 116 in Mexico -- Yahoo News/AFP
Five new mass graves found in north-west Mexico, Los Zetos drug gang suspected -- The Australian
Drug cartel suspected in northern Mexico's mass graves, authorities say -- CNN
A Second Massacre in One Small Northern Town Dramatizes the Underbelly of Nation -- Wall Street Journal
U.S. Warns of Mexico Peril -- Wall Street Journal

My Comment: I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg .... that there are more mass graves in Mexico that have yet to be discovered.