Mexico's Drug Violence Seeps Into US

Nearly 200 American cities affected by cartels
By Jess Kilby,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2008 8:40 AM CST
Mexico's Drug Violence Seeps Into US
Mexican federal agents escort Jaime Gonzalez Duran, also known as "The Hummer," whose hands are seen in cuffs, as they present him to the media in Mexico City, Nov. 7, 2008.    (AP Photo)

Mexico’s drug violence has been creeping northward into the US for the past several years, and officials now say that cartel-related crime has hit 195 American cities spanning every state except Vermont and West Virginia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Atlanta has emerged as a trafficking hub, but the kidnappings, deaths, and related violence have spread from Honolulu to Boston.

Many cities are plagued by the presence of more than one of Mexico’s four major cartels, and authorities say it’s unclear why certain areas have been targeted. “It could be one of them may know someone in one part of the country,” one official said. The DEA has also told Congress the cartels “are starting to show the hallmarks of organized crime.”

(More Mexico stories.)

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