At least 44 prisoners were killed in a clash between adherents of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel at the Center for Social Readaptation (CERESO) in Apodaca, Nuevo León. The CERESO, with an official capacity of 1,500, was holding some 3,000.
The “New Generation” narco gang has threatened to kill one police officer a day until Ciudad Juárez police chief Julian Leyzoala step down—who they accuse of collaborating with their rivals. The 2,000-strong police force have moved into hotels and safe houses.
Mexican federal officials have mobilized thousands more military troops to violence-torn northeastern Tamaulipas state in an emergency move prompted by escalating violence—punctuated by a prison riot that left over 30 dead.
Mexican authorities announced the arrest this month of two more leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel—but the notorious top kingpin Joaquin Guzmán AKA “El Chapo” remains at large, fueling speculation that he is protected by the government and DEA.
“Narco-banners” hung from Nuevo Laredo overpasses and signed in the name of Los Zetas declared: “We are not terrorists or guerrillas. We concentrate on our work and the last thing we want is to have problems with any government.”
Ayman Joumaa AKA “Junior,” a Lebanese drug kingpin with alleged connections to both Hezbollah and Mexico’s Zetas drug cartel, was charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, the Justice Department and DEA announced.
Norma Andrade, a critical voice demanding justice in the long string of “femicides” in Ciudad Juárez is stable condition after being shot twice Dec. 2, as she drove home from her job as a teacher in the violent Mexican border city.
Mexican human rights activists filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court calling for an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the security forces under President Felipe Calderón’s campaign against the drug cartels.
The discovery of a drug tunnel linking San Diego and Tijuana warehouses led to the seizure of some 17 tons of cannabis as well as a large grow operation in the industrial area of Otay Mesa east of San Diego.
The decapitated and mutilated body of an unidentified man was found in Nuevo Laredo. A message left under the decapitated head named the man as “El Rascatripas”, a moderator for a website where citizens anonymously report narco-violence.
Mexican Governance Secretary Francisco Blake Mora was killed when his helicopter crashed near Chalco—one week after a memorial ceremony for Juan Camilo Mouriño, his predecessor who had been killed in a plane crash three years earlier.
After 40 days without food, 10 prisoners in Mexico’s Chiapas state ended a hunger strike, citing the threat to their health and the lack of any response to their demands. Supporters launched a protest vigil outside one prison, and blocked a nearby highway.
