Mexico Drug War: Deadliest Days In Mexican Drug Violence Over Past Year

Federal police guard as forensic experts examine the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

-- Some notable incidents of mass violence Mexico's drug war over past year:

_ May 13: Mutilated bodies of 49 people dumped on highway in northern Mexico.

_ May 9: Dismembered bodies of 18 victims left near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara.

_ May 5: Bodies of 23 people found hanging from bridge or decapitated and dumped near city hall in border city of Nuevo Laredo.

_ April 17: Mutilated bodies of 14 men left in minivan in downtown Nuevo Laredo, along with message from undisclosed drug gang.

_ April 12: Tortured and bound bodies of seven men dumped in Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas along with messages signed by allies of Sinaloa drug cartel.

_ March 18: Gunmen kill 12 police officers sent to Guerrero state to search for bodies of 10 people whose severed heads were found earlier.

_ March 15: State lawmaker's body identified as one of 330 corpses found since April in mass graves in northern state of Durango.

_ March 7: Sixteen bodies removed from three clandestine graves on outskirts of northern industrial city of Monterrey.

_Feb. 7: Suspected Zetas cartel member leads marines to mass graves at two ranches in Gulf coast state of Veracruz where at least 15 bodies unearthed.

_ Nov. 24, 2011: Bound and gagged bodies of 26 young men found in vans and pickup truck left on expressway in heart of Guadalajara.

_ Nov. 23: Seventeen burned bodies discovered in two pickup trucks in Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan.

_ Oct. 6: Alleged members of New Generation gang allied with the Sinaloa cartel lead police to 32 bodies in city of Veracruz.

_ Oct. 2: Seven bullet-riddled bodies dumped at bus stop in Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo, along with message from Knights Templar gang.

_ Sept. 27: Five severed heads found in front of primary school in Acapulco.

_ Sept. 20: New Generation cartel dumps 35 seminude, tortured bodies in front of terrified motorists at rush hour on busy avenue in Veracruz.

_Aug. 25: Two dozen gunmen burst into casino in Monterrey, douse it with gasoline and start fire that kills 53 people.

_July 26: Police find 18 bodies in clandestine grave near border city of Juarez in northern Mexico.

_ July 8: At least 20 people killed when gunmen open fire at bar in Monterrey. Eleven bodies shot with high-powered rifles found earlier in day piled near well on outskirts of Mexico City.

_ June 7: Federal officials announce finding 193 corpses in recent months buried in town of San Fernando in Tamaulipas state, most of them migrants kidnapped off buses and killed by Zetas.

_May 25: Twenty-nine people wearing fake military uniforms found heaped across roadway and inside bullet-riddled vehicles after battle between drug gangs in Pacific coast state of Nayarit.

_May 14-15: Officials blame Zetas for slaying of 27 workers at cattle ranch in northern Guatemala.

Loading Slideshow

• Paramedics load a body near the site where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Forensic experts examine the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Forensic experts examine the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• A federal policeman guards the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal policemen guard the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal police on vehicles escort the three forensic trucks where bodies were placed after dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• A federal policeman guards the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• The shadow of a forensic agent is cast on a piece of road as he uses a substance to try to obtain a print of a tire track in the site where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal police guard as forensic experts examine the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal police on a vehicle guard one of the three forensic trucks where several bodies were placed after dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• A forensic agent inspect the area where dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were dumped on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border, in the town of San Juan, near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal police on a vehicle guard one of the three forensic trucks where several bodies were placed after dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the Km 47 of the Reynosa-Cadereyta road in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

• Federal police on a vehicle guard two of the three forensic trucks where several bodies were placed after dozens of bodies, some of them mutilated, were found on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border found in the Km 47 of the Reynosa-Cadereyta road in the town of San Juan near the city of Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

Comments

[Guillermo Paxton]

08:40 AM on 06/11/2012

Sadly, the United States is backing the drug war in Mexico which has actually done nothing except weaken Mexico's stability and security and further the power of the Sinaloa cartel. When you look at the record of Mexico's greatest arrests and "accomplishments", the vast majority has been against the enemies of the Sinaloa Cartel, yet it is arguably the biggest most profitable cartel in the world. If there is no pact between Mexico's federal government and Chapo Guzman, then how can the numbers (and facts) be explained? - Guillermo Paxton, author of THE PLAZA

[Michael Chapala]

09:26 PM on 05/16/2012

The battle in which the Golf Cartel leader died. http://youtu.be/nX2gtblTeqI

[pslcitizen]

08:28 AM on 05/15/2012

My friend wants to get married there next year...at an all-inclusive resort & she swears it's safe. Hmmmm...I don't know. Used to travel with my family there many years ago but it's not all the same place it used to be.

[iLdoRight]

06:08 AM on 05/15/2012

A special sarcastic thank you to all the people who want to purchase their illegal drugs and all to the despicable people that cause conditions in other in other peoples minds from which they want to use illegal drugs to escape the mental agonies people inflict on them. You really don't know who you are do you ?

[Eduardo Tijerino]

01:25 PM on 05/15/2012

Let's not forget the people who outlawed cannabis in 1937. The AMA opposed the move at the time because it was prescribed for many ailments. Hearst & DuPont had other commercial interests that benefitted from the removal of the competition from the hemp plant & its by-products. The problems that the drug wars have wrought started after that blatant manipulation of the "free market." Returning to free market principles is the best way to solve this problem.

[mikey2525]

09:05 AM on 05/14/2012

We border a 3rd world country ,,that has 1/5 of all the natural resources in the world. We border a country that responds to the demands for drugs in this country. We border a 3rd world country where the goverment is as corrupt as the drug cartels. Most of the mexican police are on the drug lords take. We travel half way aorund the world in our nation building attmepts, when we should be focused on the country that borders us to the south. We help china develop a market here in the usa with walmart being its largest buyer,when we could be helping mexico to build factories to do the same thing that china is doing now with a lot less cost of shipping over land thann half way around the world by ship. If we are going to be the worlds nation builders,we should start with the country that borders us to our south. We should send troops into mexico and use drones to take out the drug lords hideouts and stop the flow of drugs into the u s. nation building within our borders wont even happen again as long as we have part of our population that would not work even if jobs were provided to them, because of our goverment entitlment programs,make it easier to be a couch potato, than a productive citizen.

[Arturo Ramrez]

10:57 AM on 05/14/2012

"We should send troops into mexico and use drones to take out the drug lords hideouts." Ever heard of national sovereignity? The military strategy has already cost tens of thousands of lives...

[Matthew Cunningham]

11:03 PM on 05/17/2012

are you insane

[Eduardo Tijerino]

01:31 PM on 05/15/2012

Have you seen the unemployment stats? Where are the jobs? Corporations are reaping record profits by not hiring & you're blaming couch potatoes? Open your eyes & your mind.

[mikey2525]

03:09 PM on 05/15/2012

and if goods were made in usa, or taxed so high the corps would make no profit to bring them from china back to the usa for our dollars ,those jobs would come home. this is not about blame it is about seeking solutions , we should not be fighting over which party is best for this country, parties didnt build her ,the people did and it belongs to us. and yes we have about 35 percent of our population that would not work even get off that couch as long as the goverment meets their minimum needs, why should they? first tax all imports so high that the companies out sourcing our jobs would bring them back to the usa,and mexico is begging for help with their problems, help them to develop afterall they border us ,and give companies exclusions from unions as long as a decent wage is paid. dont tell me there arent answers, but seems people had rather make smart a-- comments here rather that to be a part of any solution. being a smart a- takes not talent ,it only shows ignorance and a plea for attention. this is our country and we should all work together as one people to correct all the mistakes that the goverment of the present and also past goverments have done to we, the people

[AZreb]

08:02 AM on 05/14/2012

40 years of a failed "war on drugs" and we just keep pouring money into Mexico and also into this war that has become a holding action - and the hold keeps slipping.

Plus, we have no idea what any of the 3 major candidates for president of Mexico have in mind for a plan in this "war". Will he/she continue the failed policies of Calderon? We see and hear more news of elections in Europe and the Middle East than we do about an election in less than 7 weeks in a country that is on our own border.

[looneydoone]

10:01 AM on 05/14/2012

The PRI will take the July Presidential elections....that's who unkle sam is backing
AMLO/PRD "the lefty" is the popular favorite, but will not be counted a winner
Calderon has trashed the PAN's prospects for the foreseeable future
Quadri is good in public...but suspected of being too closely aligned with "La Maestra" (Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, head of SNTE)

Mexicans know they have little/no say in the outcome. Some day, their votes may actually count

[Arturo Ramrez]

10:58 AM on 05/14/2012

It's interesting how all of the uofficial polls say López Obrador is favorite, by an important margin, and all the official polls say it's Peña Nieto.

[looneydoone]

11:18 AM on 05/14/2012

correction
it's *Elba Esther Gordillo Morales
not *Elbe*

[karen lyons kalmenson]

06:51 AM on 05/14/2012

and we, with our outdated,outmoded, totally idiotic drug laws, are fueling these evil flames

[Mitchell Glaser]

02:33 AM on 05/14/2012

What has to happen before this becomes more than a "Tsk, tsk" issue in the U.S.? Fifty headless bodies in San Diego? Why do we seem to not care at all about this? There is more coverage about the Tanning Lady or Mitt Romney's dog.

[Tane555]

06:57 AM on 05/14/2012

Good point.

[gregory57]

01:52 AM on 05/14/2012

Time to rethink the "Drug War".

[Mitchell Glaser]

02:36 AM on 05/14/2012

Time to rethink ALL wars, they are all equally stupid.

[jo jo jo jo]

06:32 AM on 05/14/2012

The last just war was World War 2. The rest have just been money makers.

[wadisplace]

01:21 AM on 05/14/2012

For all the Videos of these, go to Best Gore.Com

[smokeedaclown]

04:16 PM on 06/09/2012

"Best gore" is that what 50,000 dead people are to you? entertainment? you need to get a life

[donnieb]

01:18 AM on 05/14/2012

Sound like Mexican Day of dead took longer time to celebrate. Hope soon they will kill each other and i wont bother reading this

[jo jo jo jo]

06:33 AM on 05/14/2012

Every bleeding heart talks about the illegal rate coming in to the US now is 0%. Coincidence?

[jsand96876]

12:00 AM on 05/14/2012

Dismemberment has its privileges.

[dumasjohnj]

10:26 PM on 05/13/2012

Just like the prohibition in Chicago. Except this time the bodies are knee deep of the other side of the border so they do not count. But, prohibition violence is eventually going to spread north of the border. This time with much deeper and evolved roots.

[muguetdesbois]

08:48 PM on 05/13/2012

Why the border remains unlocked is deeply disturbing. Mexico long ago ceased being a fine place to vacation or live. It's very violent and very corrupt. Such lost potential in that lovely land. Kidnappings are routine. Read the story of American Jayne Valseca, what she and her poor husband, Eduardo, endured. It is common. And they believe the org that did it to them has links with al-Qaeda. How easy for terrorists to get into America through that porous southern border. And to think there's another article on HuffPost today attempting to state Mexico is a safer place to be than Texas. We must pray for the good citizens of Mexico, and for all the beautiful, precious Mexican children.

[myngbl]

08:29 PM on 05/13/2012

How do you take criminal activity out of something? Legalize it. Geez. what a joke. People will always be doing drugs; legalize and tax - just like alcohol. We don't have dudes in hats and tommy-guns running around any more.