Thread: 1,000 slain: Juárez drug war death continue to mount

1,000 slain: Juárez drug war death continue to mount
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 09/26/2008 11:44:07 PM MDT


EL PASO -- When the shooting was over, 68 rounds had been fired and a 24-year-old man was dead, slumped over inside a Chevrolet Silverado on a street in west Juárez.

The shooting, which was one of seven homicides Thursday, showed the signs of the work of organized crime, which has turned the streets of Juárez into a battleground leaving more than 1,000 dead so far this year in a war between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels.

Nearly 80 percent of the slayings in Juárez this year are believed to be linked to organized crime, the Chihuahua state attorney general's office said this week.

The percentage of mob-style killings was calculated using criteria by the Mexico Attorney General's Office based on 889 homicides tallied in Juárez alone by state authorities from January through the end of August. Official totals are often lower than counts kept by the news media.

The official death count is 984 through August when towns and villages on the outskirts of Juárez and other communities in northern Chihuahua are included. There were 91 homicides alone in the area of Nuevo Casas Grandes, state officials said.

"Fortunately, this month we will finish with 50 to 60 percent less victims" than in August, Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said this week during a gathering of Mexican border city mayors in Nuevo Laredo.

But the projected drop in homicides is relative. August had about 227 homicides and was among the bloodiest months in what has been a record-shattering year for homicides.

Chihuahua attorney general's office reported 309 homicides in Juárez in all of 2007 and 242 in 2006.

Juárez city spokesman Jaime Torres said officials hope anti-crime patrols started this month by the 1,600 soldiers assigned to Juárez will help stop the crime wave, which includes a sharp rise in robberies and auto thefts.

"Police have started new strategies, but unfortunately thieves also change their strategies," Torres said. "There are operations with the military and police, but at the same time it is recommended people take precautions."

In August alone, 1,700 vehicles were stolen in Juárez, Torres said. By comparison, around 1,900 vehicles have been stolen this year in El Paso, police have said.

El Pasoan Fernando Apodaca, 47, has worked as a representative for maquiladoras in Mexico for 18 years, but he says he won't be returning to Juárez soon, after a frightening daytime carjacking on a busy street near the border.

Around 4 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, Apodaca was driving his Cadillac Escalade when a pickup stopped in front of him at speed bumps on Avenida Malecon as Apodaca headed toward the international Dedicated Commuter Lane to go home. Men with handguns and their faces covered with bandannas rushed out of the pickup, Apodaca said.

"You see the guy jumping out with the gun in his hand and pointing it at me. Everything just sort of freezes," said Apodaca, who was dragged out before the carjackers took his vehicle.

"There is no law," Apodaca said. "It's like the Wild West over there. I want people to be aware. ... My business in Juárez is pretty much done."

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

The Mexican attorney general's office, or PGR, has criteria for identifying homicides as "executions" linked to organized crime. Execution-style homicides are those involving:


Decapitations.

Tiro de gracia (shot
execution-style).

Blindfolds.

Bound with tape.

Notes left on bodies.

Torture.

Encobijado (body is found wrapped in a
cobija, or blanket.)

Multiple shots from high-caliber weapons.
Source: Chihuahua state attorney general's office.

Causes of death of homicide victims in Juárez through August.

Total homicide victims: 889.

Firearm: 702.

Trauma (beating): 56.

Stabbing: 44.

Hanging: 10.

Asphyxia: 5.

Burning: 1.

Chemical: 1.

Vehicle: 1.

Cause to be determined: 69.
Source: Chihuahua state attorney general's office.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_10573358

America soon! and In our streets!