Mexican Drug Violence Claims 34 Lives In Two Days

Updated: Sunday, 03 Oct 2010, 9:07 AM MDT
Published : Sunday, 03 Oct 2010, 9:07 AM MDT

(NewsCore) - Yet another wave of killing blamed on drug rings in Mexico claimed 34 lives in two days, authorities said Saturday.

The killings took place between Friday and Saturday overwhelmingly in Mexico's north, close to the lucrative U.S. drug market.

In the town of San Jose de la Cruz, in an isolated mountain region in the northern state of Durango, presumed rival drug gangs clashed in a bloodbath that left 14 people dead, the local prosecutor said Saturday.

The Sinaloa cartel is active in much of Durango. It is led by Joaquin alias "El Chapo" Guzman, one of Mexico's most wanted criminals. His organization is clashing with other cartels, including the Juarez cartel, for control of illegal drug moving routes.

The Juarez cartel is active in Chihuahua state -- which shares a long border with the U.S. state of Texas. In Chihuahua another 20 murders took place in that short time frame, authorities said.

Nine of the killings took place in the Chihuahua state city of Ciudad Juarez, right on the Mexico-U.S. border.

Much of the country's drug-related violence occurred in the northern border region, and the northeast Mexican state of Nuevo Leon also has experienced a dramatic rise in deadly clashes between the Gulf cartel and its former allies, the Zetas.

More than 28,000 people are believed to have been killed in drug cartel-related violence in Mexico since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown.

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