Mexico’s Drug Woes Continue

The latest drama in the Mexican drug war involves the death of 72 people at a ranch in northeast Mexico. Mexican investigators have asked diplomats from El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Brazil to help identify the bodies, presumably migrants, according to a report on CNN.com.

President Felipe Calderon's office released a statement saying the president "strongly condemns the acts that caused the death of 72 people, suspected to be migrants," and said that drug gangs are repeatedly turning to extortion and kidnapping of migrants as their resources and recruits dwindle.

"This is a result of the activity of the state against them, which has significantly weakened the operational capacity of criminal groups," Calderon's office said.

The Aftermath of a Drug War

The dead include 58 men and 14 women who were found above ground in a structure on the ranch, approximately 14 miles from the town of San Fernando, near the Texas border. It is said to be one of the largest discoveries of bodies in Mexico's four-year war on organized crime.

There was a gun battle on the site, and officials say they found a stash of weapons, including 21 rifles, camouflage uniforms, bulletproof vests and four trucks. One of the vehicles had been disguised to look like a truck from the Ministry of National Defense, officials said.

While the nationalities of the victims has not been confirmed, a preliminary investigation indicated the victims were illegal immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil and Ecuador, according to Alejandro Poire, spokesman for national security strategy.

"This discovery once again demonstrates the extreme danger and violence that Central Americans face on their treacherous journey north, as well as Mexican authorities' abject failure to protect them," Amnesty International said. "Mexico must immediately investigate this massacre, bring the perpetrators to justice and establish the identities of those killed so that their families can be informed."

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