Mexico’s Coal Mining Drug Lords

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 24, 2013 Coal mining in Mexico's Coahuila state, which borders Texas, is turning out to be more profitable for the country's Zetas gang than trafficking in illicit drugs, and some of its product finds its way into the Mexican national electricity supply. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Escapes From Mexican Prison Spur Border Manhunt

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Sep 18, 2012 In one of the largest prison breaks in Mexico in recent years, 132 inmates escaped from a facility in the northern state of Coahuila on Monday, setting off a massive manhunt by police and soldiers near the U.S. border. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Painful Price of Numbness

By Rebecca Solnit, TomDispatch Jul 13, 2012 Drugs are all anesthesia from pain. The ruthless Mexican cartels crave money, which they make from the Yankee craving for numbness. They sell unfeeling, and we buy it, at tens of billions of dollars and thousands of Mexican lives per year. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Drug War Hobbles Mexican Economy

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 23, 2012 In addition to having produced 60,000 dead, 20,000 disappeared, hundreds of thousands displaced, wounded or on the run, and tens of thousands widowed or orphaned, Mexico’s drug war -- which seems to be off the radars of that country’s presidential candidates -- is a chain wrapped around the nation's considerable industrial potential. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Deadly Day in Mexico: 33 Killed in Gang Wars

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2011 In one bloody 24-hour period in the industrial city of Monterrey, Mexico, drug-related violence claimed the lives of 33 people, most of whom were allegedly connected to local cartels, according to Mexican authorities. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Cartel Wars

Michael Deibert / Truthdig May 17, 2011 In the annals of a conflict that has killed more than 34,600 since Mexican President Felipe Calderon militarized his country’s battle against drug traffickers in December 2006, the conflict in Tamaulipas is writing a new and bloody chapter. Like Jesús Malverde, Santa Muerte has become an object of veneration among Mexico’s criminals. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Suspect in Mexican Drug Killings Captured

Staff / Truthdig Apr 18, 2011 The Mexican government has reportedly captured Martin "El Kilo" Omar Estrada Luna, a leader of the Zetas drug gang that is suspected of killing more than 100 people in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mexican Drug War Spills Into Guatemala

Staff / Truthdig Jan 8, 2011 The hold of Mexican drug traffickers has overflowed the country’s southern border, as the Zeta cartel has seized control of parts of northern Guatemala, leading the government there to declare a state of siege in the area. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )