So I’m sitting by the pool in Orlando, reading USA Today, learning that I’m hysterical. Not only is the U.S. border under control, but crime on the U.S. side has actually decreased. I wanted to ping Nick Leghorn for some statistical deconstruction but A) I’m on holiday (obviously) and B) the rat bastard reckons he’s TTAG’s Top Gun. No need to add to his credibility, then. Upon further reflection, I’d like to point out that while it may be true that the Mexican drug cartels know better than to kidnap, torture, murder and maim north of the border, for now, the U.S. government is standing idly by whilst Mexico spins (OOC) Out of Control. For example . . .
Authorities in Acapulco say two Mexican tourists have been killed in a gun attack at a restaurant on the main oceanfront avenue in the tourist zone of the Pacific resort. Two other people are wounded.
State police say an undetermined number of attackers fired assault rifles and 9-mm pistols early Saturday into El Zorrito. That’s a traditional Mexican restaurant on the city’s main Miguel Aleman boulevard.
The attack came a day after a gunman standing near the shoreline avenue fired at swimmers in the bay, scattering panicked vacationers across the beach. Authorities say he fired at least 10 shots.
A 38-year-old woman visiting from Mexico City was wounded in the right leg and taken to a hospital.
OK, so that’s the warm-up [via the AP]. Here’s the pitch [via laht.com]:
At least 11 police officers and a civilian were killed in an attack by suspected cartel hit men outside a city in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, an official said.
The slain police were bodyguards of state public security chief Francisco Manuel Cordova, who was not with them at the time of the attack.
The official said Cordova had attended an official ceremony in the city of Los Mochis but later returned to Culiacan, Sinaloa’s capital, by helicopter while his bodyguards traveled by car.
On their return journey, the bodyguards were ambushed near a highway entrance to the Sinaloa city of Guasave, where a passerby also was slain.
That state is the birthplace of many of Mexico’s drug lords, including the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel and Mexico’s most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman.
Friday’s attack occurred a day after the military reported the discovery of the largest marijuana plantation in the country’s history, a 120-hectare (296-acre) spread that, according to local media, belonged to Guzman.
It had the potential to yield 120 tons of marijuana, which could have been used to make 60 million cigarettes with a street value of roughly $158 million.
The plantation was found not far from the U.S. border, near the main north-south highway in Baja California state.
How could the DEA not know about a 300-acre pot plantation on the U.S. border? They couldn’t. Not know. In other words, they knew. So why didn’t they do anything about it? Because the friend of my friend is my friend. And it sure wasn’t the Sinaloas trying to take out Sr. Cordova.
If you think that doesn’t matter, consider this: most U.S. gun-related murders are gang-related. And how are these gangs financed?
I loved the video, it had hot girls packing some really nice guns. I think my dad’s getting old cuz he asked me where the guns were in the video.
If you want to know what’s going on in Mexico, go to http://www.borderlandbeat.com. Translated news from the people living through that nightmare.
Those Mexican gangsters have goofier nicknames than Mafiosi. El Guapo, El Gordo, El Chapo, El Cheapo, El Zorro, Pancho, Chico, Groucho, Zeppo . . . I think those rocket surgeons got their handles out of comic books or back issues of Landscaping Today. Jeez, where’s The Cisco Kid when we need him?
Community block grants? Anti-poverty programs? Out-and-out protection rackets?
“How could the DEA not know about a 300-acre pot plantation on the U.S. border? They couldn’t. Not know. In other words, they knew. So why didn’t they do anything about it?”
Probably because its in Mexico. But the 300 acre pot plantations in northern California are ok.
Why don’t we just gather up a force of armored vehicles and roll across the border. We’ll make a weekend of it.
Why would they even fire on swimming vacationers? Or is it some new tourist attraction: The Shoot and Swim? Bobbing for Bullets?
Robert….these issues are NOT just south o’ border. Phoenix is overrun, and the crimes under reported or swept under the rug.
That’s about half a square mile, which would easily show up on Google Earth, assuming there’s a fairly recent image. A big black square, 3600′ on edge. You mean to tell me that we don’t have multiple law-enforcement and national security agencies analyzing satellite photographs of Mexico … and every other fucking square inch of the world?
I can belive that border crime is going down on our side of the border, I went to go visit the set of John Wayne’s “The Alamo” in Bracketville TX and went through border patrol twice inside the state. That being said I haven’t taken a trip to the border for cheap beer and lunacy in about 5 years. The last time I went to boy’s town we had to pay out $100 to the town security to insure we didn’t rolled or stabbed in a back alley and our kidney sold on the black market. It wasn’t like a protection racket scheme, I had been making border runs long enough to know that if you grease the plams of the locals you are less likely to end up in jail or dead, I figure it is better to pay in advance than to pay more later. But with all the violence on their side it just wasn’t worth it, no matter how many buy one get one shot specials they were running.
Why would anyone in their right mind take a vacation in Mexico? OK, that answers itself – anyone who takes a vacation in Mexico is clinically insane.
Parts of Mexico were fantastic 8-10 years ago. Puerta Vallarta, Cozumel and the like. These days we avoid Mexico completely, even the tourist areas just aren’t safe anymore.
We had friends come back from Cancun/Cozumal who reported that their bus from Cancun to Xelha was boarded and everyone robbed 3 years ago.
Another set of friends went from Cozumel to Tulum and their bus was turned back by federales because of “bandit activity” 2 years ago.
There were 11 murders in Puerta Vallarta last year, including 3 tourists.
My advise would be to visit Lebanon, it’s safer.