Mexico: descent into chaosGrim milestone: Mexican border city hits 3,000 dead in 2010

Published 15 December 2010

The Mexican drug war among the drug cartels — and between the cartels and the government —- continues to escalate as more and more weapons pour into the country; Ciudad Juarez, the homicide capital of the world, saw 1,623 people killed in drug-related violence in 2008; the toll increased to 2,763 deaths in 2009; on Tuesday the tolls reached 3,000 for 2010; also Tuesday: the Mexican navy reported it seized nine go-fast boats and a total of 15 metric tons (16.5 tons) of marijuana during two days of searches in the Gulf of California.; on 13 December; and the lower house of Mexico’s Congress voted 384-2, with 21 abstentions, to rescind the congressional immunity from prosecution of a fellow legislator accused of links to La Familia; La Familia leader Nazario Moreno, nicknamed “The Craziest One,” was killed in battles that lasted two days and spread to key parts of Michoacan state

This year’s death toll in drug-related violence in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, the hardest hit by Mexico’s drug war, rose to 3,000 Tuesday after two men were shot dead on a street, authorities said.

Ciudad Juarez has seen its homicide rate rise to one of the highest in the world after vicious turf battles broke out between gangs representing the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels in 2008.

That year, 1,623 people were killed in drug-related violence, and the toll increased to 2,763 deaths in 2009.

Fox News reports that with prosecutors’ spokesman Arturo Sandoval announcing the latest grim milestone, a total of 7,386 people have died in the city of 1.3 million people across the border from El Paso, Texas, in three years. Most were members of rival drug gangs, but civilians, police, and recovering drug addicts have also been targeted.

More than 28,000 people have died throughout Mexico in the four years since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug cartels when he took office in December 2006.

The U.S. embassy touted Mexico’s increased cooperation in anti-drug efforts, noting in a statement that on Tuesday Mexico extradited fourteen suspects wanted in the United States on drug, organized crime, money laundering, weapons, and homicide charges.

The extraditions “represent another victory in our joint fight against organized crime,” the embassy said.

Touting Mexico’s own successes in the offensive, Calderon said Tuesday that a big party led to the demise of a drug cartel chief, who was killed in a shootout with federal police.

The La Familia gang invited hundreds of people to a party last week in the western city of Apatzingan and did not bother to keep it a secret, Calderon said in an interview with W Radio.

Federal police learned about it and the shootout broke out when they arrived to investigate, he said. The government says that La Familia leader Nazario Moreno, nicknamed “The Craziest One,” was killed in battles that lasted two days and spread to key parts of Michoacan state, with gunmen blockading roads with burning vehicles.

What happened those days is that we gave La Familia cartel the biggest blow in its history,” Calderon said. “With a certain amount of insolence, they organized a party, a gathering of hundreds of their people. … Everyone found out about the party.”

The government says cartel gunmen fled with their dead during the shootouts, and Moreno’s body has not been recovered.

After Calderon spoke,