Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Authorities believe Gov. Rodrigo Medina's bodyguards were killed by a drug cartel. A message left near the bodies accused Medina of favoring a rival drug organization. Medina confirmed that the victims were part of his security detail and called the killings "cowardly." He told local media later that "no message, no threat will make us stop in this fight" against organized crime.
The bodies were found at an intersection in Guadalupe, a suburb of the state capital Monterrey. The city, Mexico's third largest and one of its most wealthy, has been the scene of bloody cartel turf battles that have included frequent attacks on police. The area in northern Mexico has been a scene of constant killings and reprisals since a rupture between the Gulf and Zeta cartels in late 2009. The Zetas -- founded by a group of deserters from an elite army unit -- have extended their territory so much that they are now carrying out killings and trafficking drugs in Guatemala.
The chief prosecutors of Guatemala and Mexico met Wednesday to discuss the problems posed by the criminal group, which is blamed in the massacre of 27 ranch workers in the Peten region of Guatemala in May. Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales and her Guatemalan counterpart, Claudia Paz, agreed to increase information-sharing about the cartel and combat the flow of arms in and around the two countries' border.
Source
The prosperous region, home to many foreign companies, was until recently considered a safe haven as drug violence increased in parts of Mexico. But a bloody turf war between the Gulf cartel and its former hitmen the Zetas has spilled into the state in less than two years, producing daylight shootouts, grenade attacks and a climate of fear.
A spokesman for Nuevo Leon government, who requested anonymity, said 33 violent killings were recorded in and around state capital Monterrey, an area of some four million, on Wednesday. Before then, the highest number recorded were 18, on May 20, including 14 in a deliberate fire in a jail in Apodaca town.
Many of Wednesday's killings bore the signs of drug gang vendettas, including the discovery of the mutilated corpses of two bodyguards of State Governor Rodrigo Medina, along with a message allegedly from the Gulf gang. Parts of Mexico, particularly near the US border, have seen a rise in suspected drug violence, with more than 37,000 deaths blamed on drug gangs since the launch of a military crackdown on organized crime at the end of 2006.
Source
Monterrey, a major industrial hub, has seen a spike of violence since the Gulf and Zeta cartels began fighting for control of drug traffic there two years ago. The medical examiner's official said his office has recovered 17 bodies, including those of women, from the crime scene. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
Police sources would not confirm the number of dead people with The Associated Press and referred the AP to local prosecutors, who are not giving an official account of the shooting. Federal police spokesman Jose Ramon Salinas said that high-powered weapons used in the shooting indicated it might have been a drug cartel confrontation.
Police sealed off the crime scene, which was still heavily guarded by the Mexican army and federal police by early Saturday morning. Other downtown businesses looked closed earlier than usual after news of the massacre broke. Mexican media are reporting 20 killed. The newspaper Reforma reported five more were wounded.
Source
More than 30 people have been killed and more injured in an attack on a casino in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey. Armed men broke into the building and set it alight, but it is not clear whether the fire was caused by grenades, or an arson attack.
Firefighters had to free dozens of people trapped by smoke and flames. Monterrey has seen a surge in violence blamed on rival drugs gangs.
The prosperous industrial city is being disputed by two rival drug cartels - Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel. Officials said they had only been able to identify 11 of the victims so far, of which three were female and eight male.
BBC News - Deadly attack on casino in Monterrey, Mexico
If you think illegal immigration is bad now............
Special report: If Monterrey falls, Mexico falls - Yahoo! News
Too much tequila...
At least 17 killed in northern Mexico bar massacre
9 July`11 — At least 17 people were killed in a bar massacre Friday night in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey when riflemen opened fire on the clientele and employees, a state forensic investigator said.
Nuevo Leon governor gets a gruesome message...
Governor's bodyguards found mutilated in Mexico
June 15, 2011 — Police on Wednesday found the dismembered bodies of two bodyguards who worked for the governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, the site of a violent turf war between drug cartels.
33 Killed In Most Violent Day In Town Memory
15 June`11 — Mexico's northern state of Nuevo Leon, home to the industrial city of Monterrey, saw 33 killings Wednesday, in the most violent day in recent history, officials said Thursday.
Yeah, it's going to be bad soon.
Well, this is what whitey gets for stealing Mexican land in the first place...
The Hispanic Experience - Stolen Birthright
If you think illegal immigration is bad now............
Special report: If Monterrey falls, Mexico falls - Yahoo! News
Its municipal and state police services have been infiltrated. Officials acknowledge its justice system fails to resolve most crimes. Its youngsters are caught up in the country's dysfunctional education system. Huge inequalities between rich and poor have created a festering underclass that is cannon fodder for the cartels.
