'Here we are prisoners'

Drug trade fuels violence on Nuevo Laredo's streets
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched:12/28/2006 12:18:22 AM PST

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - The gunfire was deafening. Street corners all over the city were darkened by smoke from grenades and light artillery.

The dead lay in pools of blood flowing into the gutters that drain into the Rio Grande.

Men with automatic assault rifles stood stoic after the carnage. Then, one by one, they picked up the bodies of their victims, threw them into the back of pickup trucks and headed out of downtown.

Bystanders hid inside shops, behind trash bins - wherever they could find refuge from the explosive showdown between members of rival drug cartels.

"(I watched as) the men threw the bodies into the back of the trucks and SUVs," whispered Manuel, who was working at a parking garage that day. "This city is controlled from the inside out by the cartels. ... They are killing anyone who gets in their way."

BY THE NUMBERS

20 million
Unofficial estimated number of legal and illegal entries into the U.S. each year. Those who entered legally included nonimmigrant visa overstays (4 million to 5.5 million) and border crossing card violators (250,000 to 500,000).

$142 billion
Estimated value of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and other illicit drug trafficking between the U.S. and Mexico each year.

90%
Percentage of cocaine sold in the U.S. in 2004 believed to have been smuggled through Mexican territory.

The Daily Bulletin has an entire section devoted to borders issues including articles and photo galleries. It is worth a visit! -mm