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Mexican Drug War – Chronology of Coverage by the L.A. Times

  • jim.pickell
  • | March 1st, 2009 | 7:26 am
March 5, 2009
 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story 20 killed in riot at Ciudad Juarez prison 
It takes forces nearly three hours to contain the gang unrest. Bodies are reportedly thrown from windows.
March 4, 2009 Texas Andrew Becker, Patrick J. McDonnell Story Mexico’s drug war creates new class of refugees
Business owners, law enforcement officers, journalists and other professionals are among those seeking asylum in the U.S. — even when it means sitting in jail.
March 3, 2009 San Diego Associated Press Story Warning issued on Mexico trips
The Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has taken the unusual step of urging college students to avoid parts of northern Mexico during spring break.
March 3, 2009 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico sending more forces to Ciudad Juarez
As violence spirals, Mexico dispatches another 1,000 federal police to the border city of Juarez, where 2,000 additional soldiers arrived earlier this week. More than 1,600 people died last year in drug-related violence in the city, across the border from El Paso, Texas.
March 2, 2009 Cancun Ken Ellingwood Story Killings uncover seamier side of Cancun
The killing of a newly-hired security official, Gen. Mauro Enrique Tello, and two others raises questions about the drug trade’s impact on the popular resort, especially with suspicions falling on then-police chief, Francisco Velasco.
Feb. 26, 2009 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico to send up to 5,000 more troops to Ciudad Juarez
The increase would triple the law enforcement presence in the border city, which has been racked by drug violence. Its police chief quit recently and its mayor has received threats.
Feb. 25, 2009 Washington Josh Meyer Story Hundreds arrested in U.S. probe of Mexican drug cartel
Fifty arrests in California and elsewhere are the latest among 730 targeting the Sinaloa cartel in a 21-month crackdown.
Feb. 25, 2009 Villanueva Tracy Wilkinson Story Town fed up with violence turns to army
In the state of Zacatecas, residents of Villanueva demanded that the military take over. The soldiers came, but drug war violence got worse.
Feb. 23, 2009 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Governor of Mexico’s Chihuahua state downplays attack
Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas says gunmen who fired on his convoy weren’t aiming at him.
Feb. 21, 2009 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Ciudad Juarez police chief quits after killings of officers, threats
Posted signs say a policeman would be killed every 48 hours unless Roberto Orduña Cruz resigned.
Feb. 19, 2009 New Mexico Scott Kraft Story Border drug war is too close for comfort
A quaint but quirky border town in New Mexico casts a wary glance at its neighbor over the border, fretting over whether drug-related violence will cross over to its streets.
Feb. 16, 2009 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Gunmen kill police officer, 10 relatives in Tabasco
Gunmen hit the homes of Carlos Reyes Lopez and his extended family; a 2-year-old nephew and five other children are among the dead. Reyes Lopez was a member of an elite agency tackling police corruption.
Feb. 12, 2009 Phoenix Sam Quinones Story Phoenix, kidnap-for-ransom capital
Juan Francisco Perez-Torres was abducted last month in front of his home and ransom demanded. Hundreds of such incidents occur each year in Phoenix, and Mexican drug-smuggling is usually involved.
Feb. 8, 2009 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Families want answers from man who says he dissolved 300 people
Santiago Meza Lopez, known as El Pozolero (the Stew Maker), says he stuffed bodies into barrels of lye for drug cartels. He may be a good source of information about missing loved ones.
Feb. 6, 2009 Chihuahua Ken Ellingwood Story Openness is the new order in the courts
Closed-door, written trials give way to U.S.-style proceedings in Chihuahua state. The overhaul could help fight corruption and organized crime, analysts say.
Feb. 4, 2009 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Ex-general, 2 others found shot to death near Cancun 
Mauro Enrique Tello is one of the highest-ranking officials to be killed in the lawlessness fueled by drug trafficking and other gang crime. Elsewhere in Mexico, 14 people are reported killed.
Jan. 29, 2009 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Mexico drug bosses may have set truce
According to news reports, trafficking chiefs in the state of Sinaloa agreed last month to curb their bloody rivalry. Killings there have declined sharply.
Jan. 25, 2009 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Calderon seeks to dispel talk of ‘failing state’
Two recent U.S. reports paint a dire picture of Mexico as its battle against drug crime grows more bloody, but Mexican officials say that though some cities are in trouble, the state itself is strong.
Jan. 24, 2009 San Diego Richard Marosi Story Mexico army nabs vats-of-lye suspect
The man arrested in Baja California is said to have dissolved hundreds of bodies as part of Tijuana’s drug turf war.
Jan. 17, 2009 Los Angeles Evelyn Larrubia Story Parents’ quest helps identify remains in barrel
The LaPortes’ search for their son ends when Mexican officials confirm the remains found in Rosarito are of their son Daniel. They also learn that he was apparently smuggling marijuana.
Jan. 15, 2009 Mexico City Denise Dresser Story Reality check for U.S.-Mexico relations
Calderon must face facts in Mexico, and Obama may find the drug war a tough foreign policy issue.
Jan. 13, 2009 Washington Ken Ellingwood, Frank James Story Obama, Calderon meet in Washington
Cooperation in drug war on agenda as Mexican president meets president-elect.
Jan. 13, 2009 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Vatican suggests excommunicating Mexican drug traffickers
Vatican’s second-ranking official suggests severe penalty for drug thugs responsible for thousands of deaths in Mexico.
Jan. 8, 2009 Mexico City Reuters Wire Story Mexico arrests a founder of “Zetas” drug hitmen
Mexico has captured one of the founders of the Gulf drug cartel’s brutal “Zetas” squad of hitmen that is behind much of the country’s bloodshed, the attorney general’s office said.
Jan. 8, 2009 Mexico City Associated Press Story More U.S. funds freed for Mexico’s drug fight
Washington releases an additional $99 million as part of an aid package to help security forces in their battle with drug cartels.
Jan. 2, 2009 Los Angeles Paul Pringle Story Drug arrests mystify Covina neighborhood
After two Mexican federal agents and two others were arrested in July on drug-related charges, little has emerged about the case and residents are puzzled.
Dec. 31, 2008 Washington Josh Meyer Story Mistrust bedevils war on Mexican drug cartels
The U.S. and Mexico agree that cartels have morphed into crime syndicates that pose an urgent security threat to the region. But working together has not been easy.
Dec. 30, 2008 Los Angeles Times staff Story Strategies for Mexico’s drug war
Experts and public figures in the U.S. and Latin America offer a range of views, from stepped-up policing to legalization.
Dec. 28, 2008 Culiacan Tracy Wilkinson Story In Sinaloa, the drug trade has infiltrated ‘every corner of life’
‘Narcos’ have made their way into government, business and culture in this Pacific state, where kids want to grow up to be traffickers.
Dec. 24, 2008 Guadalajara Associated Press Story Mexican beauty queen arrested with suspected drug gang members, guns and bullets
Miss Sinaloa arrested in Zapopan, outside city of Guadalajara, in Jalisco state.
Dec. 22, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Drug crackdown has little effect on money laundering
The network of money laundering in Mexico reaches from banks and exchange houses in the capital to a small soccer team in the western state of Michoacan.
Dec. 22, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Remains of 9 decapitated men found in Mexico
The heads and bodies were found at separate places in the state of Guerrero, a hot spot in the country’s drug war. Local media say the victims may be Mexican soldiers.
Dec. 19, 2008 Ciudad Juarez Ken Ellingwood Story Drug violence puts Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on edge
In a harrowing three-day visit, a reporter finds the social fabric badly frayed in Ciudad Juarez, a border city that has suffered the worst of the drug-related violence in Mexico.
Dec. 18, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Mystery man blamed for gruesome Tijuana deaths
Teodoro Garcia Simental is the best known but least identifiable suspects believed to be responsible for Tijuana’s raging drug violence. His name alone inspires silence.
Dec. 16, 2008 San Diego Richard Marosi Story Less cocaine on U.S. streets, report says.
Mexican trafficking organizations are expanding their control, but interdiction efforts have affected flow.
Dec. 9, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Death toll in Mexico’s drug war surges
Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora says 5,376 people have been killed so far in 2008, more than twice the toll for the first 11 months of 2007.
Dec. 9, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Corruption hurting Mexico’s fight against crime, Calderon says
Mexican President Felipe Calderon says his government has made strides in combating graft. But police corruption remains a big problem in the battle against drug trafficking.
Dec. 7, 2008 Monterrey Sam Quinones Story 23 seconds of the Mexican drug war
When four people in a jewelry store were killed by gunmen who took nothing, few doubted it was a message sent in the drug war.
Dec. 5, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Some in Mexico want the death penalty reinstated
The increase in slayings and kidnappings related to the nation’s war on drug traffickers has created a climate of fear. Legal experts see too many obstacles to restoring capital punishment.
Dec. 5, 2008 Los Angeles Raoul Ranoa Interactive Graphic Moments before eternity
The slayings of a Mexican police officer, his wife and two others occurred in Monterrey’s busy business district.
Dec. 4, 2008 Ciudad Juarez Ken Ellingwood Story Schools become latest targets in violence-plagued Ciudad Juarez
Anonymous threats warn of unspecified harm if teachers don’t hand over their year-end bonuses.
Dec. 2, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Tijuana drug violence unabated
Despite a recent military offensive, at least 38 people have been killed in the city’s drug wars since Saturday, nine of them decapitated.
Nov. 30, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico drug suspects extradited at record pace
The new posture on extradition signals President Felipe Calderon’s determination to combat violent smuggling groups through closer collaboration with U.S. authorities, officials and analysts say.
Nov. 27, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story U.S. war on drugs has failed, report says
Former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo calls for a U.S. effort to curb consumption and halt arms trafficking.
Nov. 22, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico traffickers bribed former anti-drug chief, officials say
Noe Ramirez Mandujano, a prosecutor who resigned as head of the SIEDO organized crime unit in July, is arrested on suspicion of passing intelligence to Sinaloa drug gangsters.
Nov. 21, 2008 Culiacan Tracy Wilkinson Story Another bloody night in Sinaloa, Mexico
Five federal and state police agents are killed in an ambush in Culiacan as drug gangs try to fight off a government crackdown. The day’s toll is 10.
Nov. 19, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story 500 police officers replaced in Tijuana
Mexican federal agents and army troops are dispatched in a bid to rid the Tijuana police department of cops suspected of having links to drug traffickers.
Nov. 16, 2008 Atlanta Sam Quinones, Richard Serrano Story Mexico drug wars spill across the border
Few regions of the U.S. are immune to drug-trafficking organizations that have left a trail of death, kidnappings and other crimes.
Nov. 12, 2008 Rosarito Beach Richard Marosi Story Rosarito Beach losing tourists to crime fears
The mayor still pushes his seaside city as a cut-rate paradise. ‘Tourists are not targeted,’ he says. But violence linked to the drug war has made it a harder sell.
Nov. 7, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Citizen suspicion surrounds Mexico plane crash
A citizenry wearied by drug violence appears unwilling to rule out foul play in the crash that killed Mexico’s interior minister, a former top anti-drug official and 12 others.
Nov. 4, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Two top state police officers slain in Mexico
One of the killings occurs in Mexico state, where 12 officers have been killed in five days, apparently by gangs seeking a foothold in areas near the capital.
Nov. 3, 2008 Culiacan Tracy Wilkinson Story Most-wanted Mexico drug trafficker is found everywhere
Rumored sightings of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman are legion, but Mexico’s most-wanted trafficker remains at large.
Oct. 31, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Lions and tigers and drugs
A recent raid in Mexico City turns up a menagerie filled with big cats and a monkey, another case of an alleged cartel boss collecting rare exotic species.
Oct. 28, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Mexico acknowledges drug gang infiltration of police
The arrest of 35 members of Mexico’s elite organized-crime squad is another embarrassing setback in President Felipe Calderon’s effort to root out drug trafficking.
Oct. 27, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Police capture key drug suspect
Eduardo Arellano Felix, an original member of a notorious cartel, is nabbed after a shootout in Tijuana.
Oct. 25, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story For Tijuana children, drug war gore is part of their school day
The biggest civilian casualty in Tijuana’s raging drug war may be the psyche of children exposed to the carnage.
Oct. 25, 2008 Tijuana Don Bartletti Photo Gallery Tijuana violence
Children frequently witness the gruesome aftermath of Tijuana’s raging drug battles.
Oct. 23, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico arrests major drug-trafficking suspect
Jesus Zambada Garcia is captured after a gun battle in Mexico City. He commanded one of four branches of the Sinaloa cartel, officials say.
Oct. 21, 2008 Culiacan Tracy Wilkinson Story Culiacan, Mexico, feels the pain of a drug-induced recession
In Mexico’s cradle of drug trafficking, residents feel the sting of recession as smugglers and their money become scarce.
Oct. 18, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story U.S. drug czar John Walters reassures, sounds alarm on Mexico drug violence
In Mexico visit, anti-drug chief warns that violent cartels in Mexico “do not respect the border” and pose a threat to the United States.
Oct. 17, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Two held in Mexico in killings of 24
A municipal police commander is among the accused in connection with the two dozen bodies found in a wooded area outside Mexico City.
Oct. 15, 2008 Huitzila Deborah Bonello Video Recovering addict in Mexico talks about his addiction
Once just a transit nation for narcotics, Mexico now grapples with addiction.
Oct. 15, 2008 Huitzila Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico grapples with drug addiction
Long a corridor for narcotics headed for the U.S., Mexico is now contending with its own addiction problem, as U.S. border controls push traffickers to look elsewhere.
Oct. 8, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Killing of Mexico mayor sends message
The slaying of a rising political star is ascribed to his refusal to have any contact with drug traffickers.
Oct. 6, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Tijuana killings may signal fall of Arellano Felix cartel
With dozens of bodies found in the last week, some in law enforcement see ‘the tail end’ of the organization. But others warn that elements of the ruthless cartel remain very much alive.
Oct. 1, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico’s President Calderon has few choices in drug war
Though an attack on civilians in Morelia has tested the public’s stomach for the increasingly savage conflict, the president has little room to pull back from his crackdown.
Sept. 30, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story 12 bodies found near Mexico school
The grisly discovery capped four days of violence that has shaken the sprawling Tijuana metropolitan area and forced Baja California state officials to plead for more federal police to help control the city.
Sept. 28, 2008 Mexico City Tracy Wilkinson Story Morelia suspect tells of holding grenade
‘I was hiding it in my hands and it made me shudder,’ Juan Carlos Castro Galeana tells an interrogator in a videotaped session about the deadly attack in Mexico. ‘I was desperate to get rid of it.’
Sept. 27, 2008 Tijuana Evelyn Larrubia Story An American is missing in Mexico, but his other life emerges
Daniel LaPorte went to Mexico and never came back. His parents didn’t know of his drug involvement.
Sept. 18, 2008 Washington Richard Schmitt Story DEA arrests 175 Mexican drug-trafficking suspects
The suspects, believed to have ties to Mexico’s Gulf cartel, were arrested in raids this week in a dozen U.S. states.
Sept. 18, 2008 Morelia Ken Ellingwood Story Mexicans fear they are all targets now
In the wake of the deadly explosions in the capital of Michoacan state, Mexicans are forced to confront a new kind of victim in the drug wars: anyone.
Sept. 17, 2008 Mexico City Deborah Bonello Video Reaction to Independence Day blast
Mexicans react to a hand-grenade blast during Independence Day celebrations in Michoacan.
Sept. 17, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Organized crime blamed for deadly Mexico blasts
At least seven people are killed by the two explosions in the capital of Michoacan state during Independence Day celebrations.
Sept. 17, 2008 Mexicali Richard Marosi Video Mexicali drug tunnel
Under a simple home in a typical Mexicali neighborhood, traffickers were busy for months excavating a sophisticated tunnel toward the United States, one of seven discovered this year along this part of the U.S. border
Sept. 17, 2008 Mexicali Richard Marosi Story Suspects in border tunnel charged, Mexico officials say
The eight men arrested in the house where the sophisticated tunnel began include a suspected L.A.-area gang member.
Sept. 17, 2008 Morelia Deborah Bonello Video Mexican Independence Day celebration disrupted by grenade attack
Victim recounts deadly blast during Independence Day celebrations in Morelia, Michoacan.
Sept. 15, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico safety chief’s tough job: policing the police
Drug money and corruption have long tainted law enforcement. But Genaro Garcia Luna, with President Calderon’s backing and the aid of technology, may succeed in reforming the system, analysts say.
Sept. 7, 2008 Tecate Richard Marosi Story In Mexico, a police victory against smuggling brings deadly revenge
Juan Jose Soriano, deputy commander of the Tecate Police Department, helped U.S. authorities find a drug-smuggling tunnel. The next morning, gunmen shot him 45 times in his bedroom.
Sept. 2, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Calderon presents Mexico’s annual report in written form
A new law allows President Felipe Calderon to give his state of the nation report without having to appear before Congress, a move that avoids disturbances.
Sept. 1, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Fear of kidnapping grips Mexico
The number is rising, and the rich are not the only ones targeted. Criminals sometimes want as little as $500.
Aug. 31, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Thousands of Mexicans rally to protest rising crime wave
‘Enough’ they say as they blame officials for failing to curb the rising violence caused by drug gangs.
Aug. 30, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Drug war bodies are piling up in Mexico
The heap of 11 decapitated bodies found in Yucatan shows that the battle to control the multibillion-dollar drug trade knows no boundaries.
Aug. 29, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood, Cecilia Sanchez Story 12 decapitated bodies found in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula
The discovery is the first sign of a major outbreak of drug cartel violence in Yucatan.
Aug. 22, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico moves to curb drug crime wave
President Calderon proposes new anti-kidnapping squads, special prisons, cellphone tracking and aid for local forces.
Aug. 19, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story In Chihuahua, Mexico, governor calls for tougher crackdown on crime
Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza calls on federal authorities to reform their strategy after 13 people are killed in a weekend shooting.
Aug. 17, 2008 El Paso Miguel Bustillo Story Mexico drug war’s costs, risks exported to U.S.
Officers and others wounded across the border are increasingly being transferred to an El Paso hospital.
Aug. 14, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story 6 officers in Mexico crime unit arrested
The men are believed to have aided drug smugglers in Sinaloa state, officials say.
Aug. 13, 2008 Mexico City Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico violence claims 6 more police officers
The victims include two top commanders in Michoacan, a senior investigator in Chihuahua and a deputy chief in Quintana Roo.
Aug. 10, 2008 Sierra Vista Richard Serrano Story U.S. guns arm Mexican drug cartels
Licensed weapons dealers are abundant near the border. ‘Straw buyers’ assist the traffickers.
Aug. 9, 2008 Ensenada Richard Marosi Story Mexico anti-drug general is ousted
Sergio Aponte Polito is relieved of duty in Baja California and Sonora states. He has won public praise for his effectiveness but also criticism from officials for accusations against them.
Aug. 5, 2008 Mexico City Marla Dickerson, Cecilia Sanchez Story Mexican police linked to rising kidnappings
Many are afraid to contact authorities about abductions, fearing officers could be involved. The problem is an awkward one for President Felipe Calderon’s drug war.
July 30, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Muting the music of mayhem
As drug-related violence escalates, Tijuana is losing its taste for songs that glorify gangsters.
July 30, 2008 Tijuana Don Bartletti Photo Gallery Narcocorridos
As violence mounts, Mexico tries to mute the music dedicated to drug traffickers.
July 16, 2008 Ciudad Juarez Tracy Wilkinson Story Drug war mayhem instills a new fear
Drug-related killings have taken thousands of lives, but now those uninvolved in the cartel battles are falling victim, even children.
July 15, 2008 Mexico City Marla Dickerson, Cecilia Sanchez Story Sinaloa rocked by soaring drug violence
At least 21 people are killed in five days as turf wars between splintered gangs appear to heat up.
July 11, 2008 Mexico City Marla Dickerson Story 12 slain in brazen Mexico attack
In daylight near the center of Sinaloa’s capital, gunmen kill nine at a shop and three pursuing officers.
July 8, 2008 Tijuana Richard Marosi Story Tijuana finds 11 dead in 3 days
The weekend tally pushes the city’s death toll to more than 260, compared with about 152 homicides at this time last year, and underscores authorities’ difficulties curbing organized crime.
July 6, 2008 Villahermosa Ken Ellingwood Story Reporters covering Mexico drug wars risk their lives
As violence has soared, more than 30 reporters have died or disappeared in Mexico since 2000, the group Reporters Without Borders says.
June 11, 2008 Los Angeles Ken Ellingwood Story Macabre drug cartel messages in Mexico
Part threat and part boast, the hand-written messages left at the scene of drug killings have multiplied. The words are a warning to enemies, and to society at large.
June 7, 2008 Los Angeles Richard Marosi Story U.S. a haven for Tijuana elite
Three years ago, gunmen tried to kidnap chef Javier Plascencia’s younger brother. A year later they tried again but, in a case of mistaken identity, snatched the wrong man.
June 3, 2008 Tijuana Ken Ellingwood Story Mexico vs. drug gangs: A deadly clash for control
President Felipe Calderon says the violence is one measure of success: It shows that the cartels have been hurt badly and are now lashing out at the government and one another.
June 3, 2008 Nuevo Laredo Ken Ellingwood Story Army’s role in Mexico drug war seen as crucial yet risky
Observers fear the deployment will hurt democracy and civil institutions, but they see no alternative.

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