Gunmen Massacre 17 at Mexico Rehab Center

(CBS/AP)  Gunmen broke into a drug rehabilitation center and shot 17 people dead in a northern Mexican border city, an official said.

The attackers on Wednesday broke down the door of El Aliviane center in Ciudad Juarez, lined up their victims against a wall and opened fire, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the regional prosecutors' office. At least five people were injured.

Authorities had no immediate suspects or information on the victims. Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, is Mexico's most violent city, with at least 1,400 people killed this year alone. Most of the homicides are tied to drug gang violence.

Dozens of sobbing relatives rushed to the center to find out if their loved ones were among the dead. Soldiers and federal agents patrolled the streets surrounding the center in the Bellavista neighborhood.

President Felipe Calderon sent thousands more troops and federal police to Ciudad Juarez earlier this year, but the surge has done little to stem the raging violence. The city is home to the Juarez drug cartel, which is battling other gangs for trafficking and dealing turf.

Calderon defended his efforts against the cartels in a speech to the nation Wednesday, delivered at the Palacio Nacional. "As never before, we have weakened the logistical and financial structure of crime," the president told legislators.

But as CBS News producer Susana Seijas reports, the president has had to sacrifice millions in public spending on social welfare programs in favor of the expensive offensive against the drug gangs. Yet, in his state of the nation address Wednesday, Calderon vowed to renew his government's commitment to tackle poverty. The president has had a very rough year, and he has now set goals which seem impossible to achieve.

The government is struggling to revamp Ciudad Juarez's police force, which is plagued by corruption and the assassination of many of its officers. Other police have quit the force out of fear of being targeted.

The massacre capped a particularly bloody day in Mexico's relentless drug war.

Gunmen killed the No. 2 security official and three other people in Calderon's home state of Michoacan, where the government is locked in an intensifying battle with the ruthless La Familia cartel, blamed for a string of assassinations of police and soldiers.

Jose Manuel Revuelta, who was promoted less than two weeks ago to state deputy public safety director, is the highest-ranking government official killed in the wave of assassinations sweeping Michoacan, the cradle of La Familia drug cartel.

Attackers drove up alongside Revuelta as he headed home and opened fire, state Attorney General Jesus Montejano said.

Revuelta tried to speed away, but only made it a few blocks before he was intercepted by two vehicles. Six gunmen got out and sprayed Revuelta's car with bullets, killing him, two bodyguards and a truck driver caught in the crossfire, Montejano said.

An AP reporter at the scene saw the bodies of Revuelta and his bodyguards in the car, which had at least 15 bullet holes in the front windshield. Soldiers and federal police rushed to the site - just three blocks from the headquarters of the Michoacan Public Safety Department - and a helicopter circled overhead.

Soldiers and federal police have intensified their fight against La Familia since accusing the cartel of killing 18 federal agents and two soldiers last month. In the worst attack, 12 federal agents were slain and their tortured bodies piled along a roadside as a warning.

It was the boldest cartel attack yet on Mexico's government. Authorities said say La Familia was retaliating for the arrest of one of its top members.

The government has since rounded up more La Familia suspects, including Luis Ricardo Magana, who is alleged to have controlled methamphetamine shipments to the United States for the gang. Days before his capture, prosecutors detained the mother of reputed La Familia leader Servando "La Tuta" Gomez despite his threat to retaliate if police bothered his family. The woman was released after two days "for lack of evidence" of involvement in the cartel.

An AP reporter at the scene saw the bodies of Revuelta and his bodyguards in the car, which had at least 15 bullet holes in the front windshield. Soldiers and federal police rushed to the site - just three blocks from the headquarters of the Michoacan Public Safety Department - and a helicopter circled overhead.

Calderon first launched his crackdown against drug cartels in Michoacan, sending thousands of federal police and soldiers to his home state after taking office in late 2006. Tens of thousands more have since been deployed to drug hotspots across Mexico.

Drug gang violence has since surged, claiming more than 13,500 lives, including more than 1,000 police officers.

The federal Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, announced the arrest of its two top officials in Quintana Roo, a state on the Yucatan Peninsula, for allegedly protecting the Gulf and the Beltran Levya drug cartels.

Officials provided no further details on the allegations against the prosecutors, who were ordered jailed by a court Wednesday pending the investigation.

[american_11-2009]

Our government fails the most basic and primary task & duty of government, to protect this Nation and its Citizens from invasion and enforce its laws.
Our Government, past & present, Republican & Democrat, have allowed the invasion of 20 to 30 million criminals and uneducated peons which is the largest invasion of any Nation, at any time, by any means & in direct violation of Article IV Section IV of our Constitution.
This refusal to abide by our Constitution or enforce our Immigration Laws should be classified as Treason of the most foul kind, & as grounds for impeachment & trials for Treason!
Not only have they allowed the invasion, they force American tax payers to pay Billions on Billions of dollars to provide Welfare, Prison cells, Educate the invaders numerous children, and free medical care, at the same time the invading horde break numerous laws and massive document fraud, & are destroying our schools, hospitals, communities, culture and standard of living while Robbing, Raping, Killing & Assaulting American Citizens at an rate the terrorist can only dream about.
Recent statements in Mexico from both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary something needs to be done. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers, and civilians," Hillary whined.
But no mention, whines, concern or care that their refusal to stop the Massive Invasion of Illegal Aliens pouring across our borders or enforce our immigration laws that causes an estimated 25 Americans deaths per day and 10,s of thousands victims of Assault, Robberies, Rapes, Identify thief, and other assorted crimes committed by the invading horde of Illegal Aliens from Mexico on American citizens each year!
It is a telling indictment & shows their Empathy & Compassion of our Politicians & their priorities are not for the American citizens when they express more concern over Mexicans deaths mostly connected to the Drug trade, than the murders, havoc & crimes of Illegal Aliens against American Citizens!
The Democrats view the invading horde of Criminals and Uneducated third world rejects as Undocumented Welfare Democrats & the Republicans as Undocumented Slave labor for their Pay Masters in the Chamber of Commerce & Businesses!
Most of our Politicians in Wash. DC are wading knee deep in innocent American blood and suffering because they put Self Interest ahead of the interest of American Citizens & the future of this Nation!
The Citizens of this Nation have not sacrificed with blood, sweat & tears for over 200 years & obeyed the Laws of the land, paid the taxes, and fought the wars & built this Nation to see Corrupt politicians turn this Nation into the United States of Mexico without a shot being fired, to serve their demented, nefarious goals and lust for power!

[Beatrice-Boltz]

The drug industry needs to be placed in the hands of the government and out of the hands of tyrants. Legalization is the ONLY answer. There will ALWAYS be a demand for mood altering substances. Face the music. Hear the music. RIP prohibition's fallen angels.

Rest In Peace.

[gunownerdan]

Marijuana has been illegal for over 70 years and today it is America's #1 cash crop. Marijuana is easier to get now than it has ever been before while the people who sell it are richer and more powerful than ever before. Remember Al Capone? He was one of the most powerful and most violent gangsters during alcohol prohibition. Now imagine if he made 100 times more money, had 100 times more people, and 100 times more weapons.
Think about how powerful he would have been. After alcohol was legalized and regulated, the bootleggers and gangsters like Al Capone had to find another way to make money. Mexico is proof that prohibition and the "WAR ON DRUGS" is a total failure. Prohibition of drugs makes it possible for dangerous cartels, drug gangsters, and even terrorist groups to make billions of dollars and get tons of power by giving them complete control of all black-market profits. Guns are illegal in Mexico yet the cartels have MACHINE GUNS, GRENADES, ROCKET LAUNCHERS, PLANES, and even SUBMARINES and they are getting a lot of this stuff from militaries.
We are being lied to when our public officals try to claim these cartels are buying most of their guns in America. I don't care who you are, you will not be able to walk into a gun store or a gun show and buy working grenades and rocket launchers. Machine guns are also extremely hard to get in America since they have been severely restricted since the 1930's.
Mexican drug cartels are getting more violent and powerful than ever(they already control much of the Mexican police force and many government officials) and now these terrorists are killing people in America.
IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!
Please learn more....
www.LEAP.cc

[andylance1]

As long as we have stupid drug laws, there is going to be carnage in Juarez which is beginning to resemble Beirut. The failure of our society to come to grips with the evils of prohibition is the reason thousands of Mexicans are dying each year south of the border.

We are the kings of consumption of every substance the government prohibits. We have elected a president who is too timid and weak to do anything about drug reform.

[gomzee69]

Yeah, 'cause McCan't would have legalized pot?

Please...

[Knyssth]

The cartels just took over from the federales, now the federales want their cut back. The problem with the corruption in the Mexican government, is that if we go in and wipe out the corruption (if that is even possible after almost 4 centuries of nonstop corruption), we have to wipe out the entire Mexican government and more than 75% of it's citizens!
.
This won't work. The citizens have no real alternative to selling drugs. They have no jobs, and have a government that has never cared one whit about the country or it's people. It deliberately keeps them dirt poor and uneducated so they don't even know that anything is wrong.
.
Time to legalize drugs, let the junkies off themselves, drive the cartels to some other illegal activity, and stop throwing our tax dollars away. Will this eliminate corruption in the Mexican government? No. There is NOTHING we can do for that, and the people of Mexico don't care, they have better things to worry about, like staying alive. But if we take the illegal profits from the cartels, they will have to look elsewhere (like black market TOBACCO...hehehe) for markets to invade.

[rhs648]

YCantWeAllGetAlong is correct. The problem is not outlawing drugs. The problem is with people violating the law by buying, selling, and using illegal drugs. It is up to Americans to obey, not flaunt and violate the law. In Singapore it is illegal to chew gum or spit on the street. People are fined and jailed for those offenses. Most people in Singapore simply obey the law. If Americans insist on violating our drug laws, we contribute to and feed the violence in Mexico and elsewhere. Like it or not, some of our people have blood on their hands. But does it matter? The people who were murdered at the Mexican rehab center are faceless and anonymous to us. Continue buying and selling drugs if you don't care that you are contributing to violent deaths of people both here and in Mexico. Just don't blame it on our laws and those who enforce them.

[G-I_Jesus]

Sick!

[rhs648]

This sounds like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of the Al Capone days. These cartel cockroaches must be stamped out. Mexico will never be a stable nation with these lawless cartels. Our borders will never be secure as long as these cartels exist.

[gunownerdan]

Didn't anyone tell these killers than guns are illegal in Mexico?!?!

[guest173]

Mexico should do a better job giving all their citizens opportunities for education. They should stop charging fees or giving the financial burdens of uniforms to their kids and families and really let education be available for everyone, including college. And then promote education in their country. Give them something better to do than drugs and crime.