Mexico

Stories 1221 - 1240 | << Prev   Next >>

Drug Cartels' Latest Ploy: Ultralight Planes

Ultralight aircraft are the Mexican cartels' newest tactic

(Newser) - Mexican pot smugglers have come up with a new tool in their never-ending quest to outsmart US border patrols: ultralight aircraft, USA Today reports. An ultralight is a small plane resembling a scooter with a hang glider attached, and authorities have found several crashed or in mid-flight over the border...

Mexican Soldiers Charged With Protecting Cartel Capos

Blow dealt to president's plan to use soldiers to wipe out drug gangs

(Newser) - Mexican authorities have arrested a dozen soldiers accused of working with one of the nation's murderous drug cartels, reports Reuters. The development deals a serious blow to President Felipe Calderon's strategy to use soldiers to fight the gangs and clean up corruption in the police force. The troops have been...

20 Killed in Mexican Prison Riot

Troops sent in after drug gangs clash inside high-security prison

(Newser) - At least 20 prisoners died yesterday as rival Mexican drug gangs clashed in a prison outside Ciudad Juarez, CNN reports. Hundreds of police and soldiers put down the uprising after two hours. Fighting began as spouses were leaving at the end of conjugal visits, officials said. The high-security prison is...

Mexican Army Sweeps Into Juarez

Mexico pushes to retake control of border city from warring cartels

(Newser) - Thousands of Mexican troops are pouring into Ciudad Juarez as the government tries to prevent total anarchy in the country's most violent city, reports Reuters. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the border city during the last year as drug cartels—in league with corrupt cops—battle...

Just in Time for Spring Break: Cancun Torture Probe

Cancun, like Mexico, 'is at war,' says local editor

(Newser) - Those headed to Cancun for spring break might want to hold off just a tad before slathering on Mexican suntan oil—while authorities investigate torture and murder charges against the ousted local police chief. Mexico's out-of-control drug war is seeping into nearly every community in the nation—including one of...

Rihanna Appears in Public
Rihanna Appears in Public

Rihanna Appears in Public

Singer vacations at Mexican beach resort after alleged assault

(Newser) - After weeks of hiding out, Rihanna resurfaced on a Mexican beach in the first clear pictures taken of her since Chris Brown allegedly assaulted her on Feb. 8, E! reports. The shots, originally published by the New York Daily News, were taken over the weekend at a private villa in...

US Gun Dealers Arm Mexican Drug Wars

Softer American laws lead to cross-border flood of weapons

(Newser) - More than 6,000 Mexicans died in drug wars last year, and violence has surged recently as gangs battle the police and each other. But because of Mexico's strict gun laws, cartels have to get their weaponry from elsewhere: the United States. Ninety percent of guns recovered in Mexico originated...

Mexican Mayor Assassinated
 Mexican Mayor Assassinated 

Mexican Mayor Assassinated

Just as US arrests 750 in crackdown on Mexican drug cartel

(Newser) - The mayor of Vista Hermosa in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's home province was ambushed and killed by gunmen last night, CNN reports. The mayor, who survived an assassination attempt last week, is the second mayor in the province to be killed in eight months. The assassination came as US Attorney...

Schools Warn Against Mexico Spring Break

(Newser) - Arizona’s three state universities are following the State Department and attempting to dissuade students from spending spring break in Mexican border towns, a traditional pastime, because of drug-associated violence there, the AP reports. One federal official called the warning “sage advice,” noting “documented violence, attacks, killings”...

World Economy Cuts Mexican Migration by 50%

Fewer citizens are immigrating, but emigrants aren't returning

(Newser) - Who needs a border fence when you have a shaky economy? That seems to be the message of Mexico's latest migration numbers, which show net emigration down by more than half for the year that ended in August 2008, compared with the previous 12 months. And the cause isn't more...

Mexico Calls in Army as Drug War Escalates

President deploys 45,000 troops into major cities

(Newser) - Mexican President Felipe Calderón yesterday defended his decision to deploy 45,000 troops in major cities in his fight against the drug cartels, reports the Washington Post. In a speech to the army, Calderón said the military would remain in place until it had regained control of the...

'Narco-Protests' Paralyze Mexican Border Crossings

Authorities believe anti-military protesters are in the pay of drug cartels

(Newser) - Civilian protesters suspected of being in the pay of drug traffickers have blocked Mexican bridges to the US in recent days, demanding that the military leave their cities, the Dallas Morning News reports. Officials see the demonstrations—dubbed "narco-protests"—as a worrying new development amid a wave of...

New Times Investor Silences Bad Press, Times Says

(Newser) - Carlos Slim has a history of intimidating the press, but not the New York Times, which strives manfully to dish the dirt on Mexico’s richest man today, even though he just lent the paper $250 million. Slim loves making such big investments in media companies, but he hates the...

Mexican Gunmen Kill Elite Cop, 6 Kids

Several others killed as Mexico implodes

(Newser) - Mexican gunmen rained bullets on the home of an elite cop, killing him, six children in his extended family and five others. The officer was assigned to ferret out police corruption, reports the Los Angeles Times. The violence was unusual for oil-rich Tobasco, which has been largely immune from such...

Mexicans Kiss Off Smooching Ban

Town's effort to ban kissing sparks passionate national protests

(Newser) - Outraged Mexicans joined forces—and lips—to kiss away a city's efforts to ban public smooching, the Los Angeles Times reports. Guanajuato's law drew national ridicule and protesters soon started kissing en masse in front of city hall. Newspaper columnists and politicians lined up to defend the kiss as a...

Mexico City Mayor Gives Free Viagra to Elderly

Among other bizarre pre-election tactics

(Newser) - Mexico City’s sexagenarians are getting their groove on, and it’s all thanks to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, the New York Times reports. With July's elections looming, Ebrard has rolled out a swathe of unconventional programs to improve the city’s quality of life, none more talked about than a...

Latin American Leaders Slam Failed US Drug War

Group of ex-leaders calls for US to move away from prohibitionist policies

(Newser) - Some of America's firmest allies in the war on drugs say the battle is shattering their societies while failing to stop the flow of drugs, reports the Wall Street Journal. A report from a panel headed by the former leaders of Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico—all conservatives who hit hard...

Cancun Police Chief Busted in Drug Czar's Torture-Murder

Just in time for spring break

(Newser) - Federal authorities have arrested Cancun's police chief in the recent torture and murder of a retired general who had just been appointed to a drug-fighting task force, reports CNN. The military has taken over the police force in the beach town popular with college students on spring break. In another...

Families of Missing Want 'Stew Maker' to Help

Man who dissolved bodies may be able to identify kidnap, murder victims

(Newser) - Families with loved ones missing in Mexico are hoping that "the stew maker" can give them closure, the Los Angeles Times reports. A day after the arrest of Santiago Meza Lopez—who confessed to dissolving at least 300 bodies for drug cartels—dozens of people lobbied Tijuana police...

Top Mexican Drug Fighter Murdered on First Day

Official tortured, shot 11 times within 24 hours

(Newser) - A retired army general appointed as Mexico's new top drug-fighting official spent his first day on the job being tortured and murdered, CNN reports. The corpses of the general, his aide and his driver were found in a pickup truck on a road near Cancun. The general's body showed signs...

Stories 1221 - 1240 | << Prev   Next >>