Mexican Drug War

Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal, the second-highest ranking civilian official in the U.S. Army, described the situation in Mexico created by drug prohibition as an insurgency and fretted over a scenario in which armed U.S. soldiers could be called to the border and/or into Mexico. Westphal is the most senior U.S. official to publicly compare Mexico’s drug cartels to an insurgency since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a similar assessment last September. Westfall — who said he was expressing a personal opinion, but one he had shared with the White House — said he didn’t want to ever see a situation in which "armed and fighting" American soldiers are sent to combat an insurgency "on our border, in violation of our Constitution, or to have to send them across the border."

At least 17 people -- including three young students -- were killed due to drug prohibition violence in northern Mexico this weekend.

Corrupt officials working in Mexican prisons is a well-known problem. Sandra Avila Beltran, the alleged leader of the Sinaloa drug trafficking organization has been receiving beauty treatments in jail — seems even behind bars a Queen can't be seen with wrinkles. An inquiry has been launched by Mexican officials into how a doctor was able to perform the "unauthorized procedure" on the high-profile inmate, dubbed the 'Queen of the Pacific', at the Santa Martha Acatitla prison in Mexico City.

Officials are warning U.S. citizens not to drive at night in parts of the western Mexican city of Guadalajara after suspected drug trafficking organizations burned vehicles and blocked streets there.

A notorious Mexican drug trafficking organization has been selling counterfeit Microsoft software on the streets and has been shoving it in authorities' faces by stamping fake Office 2007 discs, for instance, with the familiar "FMM" logo of the Familia organization.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued her now famous warning to drug trafficking organizations, saying: "Don't even think about bringing your violence and tactics across this border. You will be met by an overwhelming response." Dave Gibson opines that prohibition-created drug trafficking organizations have already been bringing their tactics across the border. For instance, seven months ago, Nogales, Arizona Police Chief Jeff Kirkham announced that his department had been warned by a Mexican drug traffickers that his officers would be targeted for murder if they carry out another off-duty drug bust. Chief Kirkham said, "The warning was...that the officers, if they are off duty, are to look the other way and ignore any drug trafficking loads that are coming across the border, otherwise they will be targeted."

Just as Mexican authorities are struggling to put drug traffickers in prison, Mexican prisons are struggling to keep them there. Hundreds of dangerous inmates have escaped from state penitentiaries along the U.S. border in recent months, some through spectacular action-movie breakouts, others by simply walking out the door.

A retired army general who took over a month ago as police chief of the drug prohibition violence-wracked Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo has been shot to death along with two of his bodyguards.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said that a showdown with drug trafficking organizations is just around the corner. "We're going out to directly meet these cartels. We're saying this is coming through our county and we've had enough," he said. The sheriff has recently purchased 130 new semi-automatic rifles and night vision goggles. In Pinal County, they're holding an offensive position to counter the members of drug trafficking organizations and the bandits looking to steal drugs in the desert.