In Veracruz, Massacre of Family Underlines Surging Rival Drug Cartel Violence Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
go to original July 11, 2017

Family Killed by Gang Violence in Mexico (Fusion)

The bullet-riddled bodies of the Martinez children were found on a bloody floor, huddled next to the corpses of their parents in a rented shack.

The family of six was massacred, authorities believe, because the Zetas cartel suspected the father, an unemployed taxi driver, had played some part in a rival gang's attack that killed a Zeta gunman.

The response underlines the no-holds-barred tactics of drug gangs that are splintering and battling one another for control in much of Mexico, which recently recorded its highest monthly murder total in at least 20 years.

Despite President Enrique Pena Nieto's promises of a safer nation when he came to office five years ago, the violence is outpacing even the darkest days of the drug war launched by his predecessor.

"It has taken on the proportions of a ring of hell that would be described in Dante's 'Inferno,'" said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and author of the book "Deal."

"Their strategy was strictly going after the kingpin. ... That was pretty much not the way to go because, you know, you cut off a head and others take its place," Vigil added. "You have weak institutions, weak rule of law, weak judiciary, massive corruption, particularly within the state and municipal police forces, and all of that contributes to the escalating violence."

In the first five months of 2017, there were 9,916 killings nationwide — an increase of about 30 percent over the 7,638 slain during the same period last year. In 2011, the bloodiest year of the drug war, the figure for the same January-May period was 9,466.

Read the rest at ABC News

Related: Catholic Church: Mexicans Can't Feel Safe Anywhere (Associated Press)

Related: Report Underscores Mexico's Flawed Response to Rising Violence (Insight Crime)

Related: At Least 14 People Reportedly Killed in Shootout in Border State of Chihuahua (Associated Press)

Related: 11,155 Dead: Mexico’s Violent Drug War Is Roaring Back (The Wall Street Journal)

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