8 Killed at Bar on Mexico-Texas Border

Gunmen Open Fire in Drug-Plagued City Where Over 1,300 have been Killed So Far This Year

(AP)  At least eight people were killed early Monday when gunmen opened fire in a bar in drug-plagued Ciudad Juarez on the Mexico-Texas border.

Chihuahua state official Arturo Sandoval said three others were hospitalized after the attack that killed seven men and one woman.

Ciudad Juarez is one of Mexico's deadliest cities, with more than 1,300 killings so far this year. The federal government has sent thousands of soldiers to crack down on drug cartels, which have responded with unprecedented violence.

Many of the killings are the result of battles between rival drug smugglers for lucrative routes into the United States.

In the northern city of Monterrey, four gunmen died in a shootout Monday with soldiers and three other suspects were detained, said Nuevo Leon state Public Safety Director Aldo Fasci. Three soldiers suffered light injuries in the clash.

Fasci said the confrontation, which included a car chase, led soldiers to a home where an additional five men and a woman apparently connected to the case were detained.

Drug gangs in northern Mexico frequently operate out of "safe houses" in otherwise normal neighborhoods.

In the western city of Guadalajara, the manager of a singer who specialized in drug ballads died Monday of wounds he suffered in a weekend attack that killed the musician.

Jorge Altamirano Pelayo served as manager for Carlos Vicente Ocaranza, who was shot to death outside a bar Saturday. Ocaranza was known for singing "narco-corrido" ballads that often glorify the feats of drug traffickers.

Ocaranza was better known as "El Loco Elizalde," or The Crazy Elizalde, a reference to his distant relation by marriage to Valentin Elizalde, a much more famous musician who was also killed by gunshots in 2006.

Prosecutors in western Jalisco state, where Guadalajara is located, said the assailants fled on a motorcycle. Local police say Ocaranza received death threats in the past and are investigating possible drug gang links to the crime.

Drug violence has claimed more than 11,000 lives in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006 and launched a major offensive against cartels.

The U.S. State Department said Monday that the Obama administration last week sent Congress a favorable report on Mexico's human rights record that could allow the release of $100 million in U.S. aid to help the country fight narcotics traffickers.

In early August, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont stopped the release of the report on the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion, three-year aid package, saying it was premature to give Mexico a passing grade on human rights.

[AttentionDeficit]

Sorry for the double post. Alcohol is more linked with violence than pot is, yet booze is given a legal leg up. Place pot and booze on equal legal footing, and the alcohol problem largely goes away.

[bikeboat]

NOT TRUE. I've known several alcoholics who could easily aquire pot.. just as easily as alcohol but preferred mostly alcohol. It varies with the individual. Sure outlawing pot is hypocritical and wrong but legalizing it will not result in elimination of the alcohol problem. All these substances have to be taken in moderation and if you can't do that you shouldn't be taking them at all. Otherwise its a slippery slope.

[american_11-2009]

Thanks to our Corrupt/Pandering/Lawless Politicians that refuse to Abide by our Constitution against Invasion, refuse to enforce our Laws & refuse to honor their Oath of Office we not have the Mexican Drug Cartel in 259 cites, Ms-13 gangs Nation wide & Mexican flags flying in Barrios in every town, city, & village coast to coast!

[pensacola8-2009]

Once a Mexican Drug Gang member acquires a weapon, their life expectancy is reduced to about three years. Most who are not able to exhibit cruelty against their gang rivals are shot by their own peers. Once each killer has survived for their first two years, they start seeing their own family members die if they don't target high level rival gang leaders for murder.

Juarez is the New Orleans or Miami of Mexico.

[DaVicar5]

I didn't know New Orleans was in Mexico?

[DaVicar5]

"More than 1,300 killings so far this year."???
Do I have to quote Sam Kinnison here?

[tincup356]

to thesevenvails....yes it would have an impact on prison populations...they would decrease, jailing non violent people like marijuana smokers accounts for a lot of the prison population.....much easier to arrest pot smokers than REAL criminals....that is why prisons have so many drug offenders.Paying and average of 40,000$ a year is a lot of money to spend keeping these non violent people in jail,,,,while people like Bernie Madoff run free in America robbing the people....the government brags about catching Bernie,,,,,while THEY run social security ,,,,the worlds largest ponzi scheme.,,,,THOSE are the real criminals in America....but all the investigations are busy ....chasing pot smokers and jailing them.

[idcabouturproblems]

Not sure if you realize that pot is a "gateway" drug and drugs lead to violence, just read the article...

[AttentionDeficit]

idcabouturproblems: prohibition leads to big money, big money leads to violence

[AttentionDeficit]

idcabouturproblems: prohibition leads to big money, big money leads to violence

[thesevenveils]

Perhaps the US government can now see that its war on drugs have fueled these Mexican drug cartels. By raising the stakes and price for Mexican Marijuana, these drug cartels have a big dollar stake in their trade and being the banditos they are and have been since the Mexican American war that brought Texas into the Union, they have a macho reputation to keep.

Legalize Marijuana, just as President Jimmy Carter suggested and more than half the problem simply disappears! But then again, just think what negative effects that would would have with the American Prison and Justice industry.

[tincup356]

More results of the FAILED war on drugs. By simply ending the prohibition of marijuana, cartel violence would end just like mob violence after alcohol was legalized. Our government is STUPID for keeping it illegal and thus creating the black market that the cartels make billions off of.....At a time when the crooks of BOTH parties in Washington are trying to come up with big money,,,,why not make it the money the cartels are making? The American people would at least have a chance to profit from it,,,,unlike the TARP BS that has just handed billions to LOBBY ROBBERS,,,,and that has been NO benefit to the people.With the legalization of marijuana there would be ALL new industry , coming from products made from the plant, such as paper products, which could replace the logging industry as hemp makes three times the pulp per acre, yearly.Cloth products made from hemp are some of the finest , strongest , and softest materials made.The oil could be used to make bio-diesel fuel, helping out with "Green" fuel....NO Drilling. Marijuana has MANY medical qualities and does not cost BILLIONS like the wonder drugs from big pharma. ALL of these industries would create JOBS,,,,,JOBS that are badly needed right now.Family farms could once again prosper with a cash crop that is easy to grow.....IT IS A WEED. But instead BOTH parties have sold out to the LOBBY ROBBERS and the ONLY thing they can come up with to feed the greed of corporate America,,,,is to take it from the people, be it by higher taxes, mandatory deductions for health care....OR JUST PLAIN GOUGING US......Kinda stupid thinking ,,,,when instead of selling out the people,,,,they could legalize a WEED, and solve MANY of the problems that BOTH parties CREATED in the first place. I can here Forrest now..." Stupid is as stupid does".

[bikeboat]

Yes, pot should be legalized. And it would reduce some problems (such as prison overcrowding) BUT it wouldn't result in all the rosy results you guys paint! The bulk of this drug cartel money is generated by selling cocaine, meth and heroin. Obviously these dangerous drugs should not be legalized. No, there's more that has to be done. We need to somehow figure out a way to keep our people off these hard drugs. Even pot and tobacco, if used regularly, is not good for you. For me aerobic exercise releases many of the same substances in my system that taking drugs used to do. I now only use pot on very rare special occasions now. I don't know all the answers but legalization is only part of the answer.

[underdogus09]

The Mexican cartels are eager to feed this ravenous appetite.$$$$$

[AttentionDeficit]

Yep, prohibition has made millionaires out of violent criminals for years.

[underdogus09]

The latest federal figures show that 114 million Americans have used illegal drugs at some point and 20 million are current users.

[AttentionDeficit]

Yep. Consider all the tax money lost by keeping those drugs illegal. Not to mention the cost of prosecuting and incarcerating them. Or, the lost income potential due either to the users in jail or the new legal green industries that will not grow.

[underdogus09]

American drug users are fueling demand for the drugs..Homeless heroin addicts in big cities, "meth heads" in Midwest trailer parks, pop culture and sports stars, teens smoking marijuana with their baby boomer parents in Vermont in all, 46 percent of Americans 12 and older have indulged in the often destructive national pastime of illicit drug use.....

[AttentionDeficit]

underdogus09: what is the percentage of americans 12 and older who have indulged in the often destructive national pastime of alcohol use?

[Kyle1965]

"... in Vermont in all, 46 percent of Americans 12 and older have indulged in the often destructive national pastime of illicit drug use....."

Yeah, and if you remove the kids under 18 and the senior citizens 65 and older from the equation well over half of Vermonters have used illegal drugs. Nationwide now over 50% of Americans 18 through 64 or 21 through 64 have smoked pot. Those 65 and older grew up before drug use took off and the 12 year olds just aren't yet at the age where many are using any illegal drugs. By the time they turn 21 most will have used some illegal drug. Most who use an illegal drug will just use marijuana.

[bajajohn1]

The fight against the cartels goes on daily. Massive amounts of all kinds of drugs and weapons have been confiscated the Mexican military. Yet, consumption in the U.S. continues unabated.

[thesevenveils]

Yep, all the marijuana smokers in the US are a peaceful bunch. Woodstock and all that. It's those damn steroid fed wannabe Rambo type cops that exhibit the most violence in the US. They love to pick a fight with an unarmed hippie type. Easy pickins. But ask them to to go into a gun infested slum to root out gun totin murders and nope, no sir, that isn't what being a police officer is about. At least that's the way it is in my neck of the city.