24 die in western Mexico; 11 in one shootout

[spookyturtle 9,465]

ACAPULCO, Mexico - A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.

The gunbattle erupted when attackers opened fire on soldiers patrolling the small town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, said Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police. Ten gunmen and one soldier were killed, he said.

Diaz said the shootout broke out in the middle of the day in the center of the town as it was full of bystanders. He said state police were investigating and soldiers had reinforced security.

President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives.

Thirteen other people were killed in Guerrero in several other incidents before dawn, according to a state police report.

Two decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco. Another man was found shot to death on the edge of the city.

Gunmen, meanwhile, killed five police officers on patrol in Tuncingo, a rural area outside Acapulco. In the same area, police found the bullet-ridden bodies of five other men, including two who had been beheaded.

Police mentioned no possible motives, and it was unclear if the killings were related.

Several cartels are fighting over drug dealing turf and trafficking routes in Guerrero. Gang violence occurs almost every day in the state, but Saturday was unusually bloody.

Farther to the south in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, a grenade explosion inside a car killed one man and wounded another. State prosecutors said the dead man was holding the weapon when it exploded.

Investigators believe the victim belonged to the Zetas drug gang and had been about to throw the grenade at federal police offices in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35855758/ns/world_news-americas/

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Soldiers and "armed men". Aren't they all "armed men"?

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

i thought mexico had some serious gun control laws.

[웃 910]

My wife's from Acapulco...

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

i thought mexico had some serious gun control laws.

Only the military and outlaws have guns. Is that enough control for you?

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

Only the military and outlaws have guns. Is that enough control for you?

actually, my idea of real gun control is using both hands to get steady sight picture.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

actually, my idea of real gun control is using both hands to get steady sight picture.

Why do you need to aim a pistol? I like point and shoot, like a shotgun. Did you ever notice that the bull is roughly the size of a beer can?

[alienlovechild 75]

Soldiers and "armed men". Aren't they all "armed men"? <

Not exactly as an unarmed soldier is still soldier.

[scandal 951]

Legalize cocaine in the US.

Regulate it, license the distributors and retailers, tax the bejeezus out of it.

Impose import tariffs on it, have Federal inspectors assess it for quality.

Import it directly from licensed growers in Bolivia, Columbia, etc.

Once the legal market is well established the Mexican cartels will have no reason for remaining in business and the violence will dissipate.

Do the same for other controlled substances they are trafficking, and it will dissipate even further.

In short - legalize drugs in the US, treat drug addiction in this country as a public health issue rather than a criminal matter. All sorts of problems will start to be rectified. The jails won't be as crowded, funding will go to methadone clinics and job training sessions rather than prisons, street crime in the US will be reduced, the awful carnage in Mexico and other countries will be reduced, tax revenues will increase, ... what's wrong with this picture?

The War on Drugs is a failure. It always has been. It's time to have that recognized, and move on to an enlightened drug policy.

[NickD 202]

I view this as a very limited market on drugs with a couple of guys wanting all of it. Instead of underpricing the competition, kill them off. Our free market society permits corporations to undercut the competition and they will do this at a loss of revenue to drive them out of business, then they are in an excellent position to clean up pricing whatever they feel like it.

Apparently drug dealers don't use that strategy. But honestly, does anybody really miss them? Let's provide them with even more guns.

Yeah, always innocent people that stick their noses in the wrong place and get in the crossfire.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Wow! More people die in day compared to a month in Providence, RI in terms of shooting.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Niels Bohr

[NickD 202]

Wow! More people die in day compared to a month in Providence, RI in terms of shooting.

Gave me a thought as to why a mom and pop store for over thirty years aren't shooting at Wal-Mart when they come into town and put them out of business. Or companies famous for hostile takeovers aren't shot at. Maybe these drug dealers have a method to their madness, after all, your livelihood is being stole by these corporations. Government certainly doesn't protect these people from their loss of only livelihood, and if they don't, who is?

I never thought about shooting anyone when my company had a hostile takeover, for one thing, would be spending the rest of my life in jail. Just found something else to do. It's like our government are protecting the wrong people when you really think about it. We need fair trade laws in our illegal drug business.