Whack-a-mole: Mexican Government Reveals Distribution of Drug Violence

Here is a clearer presentation of where the violence is actually occurring in Mexico. Among other things, one would hope that the U.S. Department of State will read this and clarify its travel warnings. For example, the State Department warns that the State of Michoacan, where this editor lives, is dangerous. However, this report clarifies that most of that violence is in the industrial port city of Lazaro Cardenas, where cocaine arrives from South America and amphetamine ingredients from China. Hence, it is a battle ground between cartels fighting for control of a strategic port. No tourists go there in the best of times. 

Mexican Government Reveals Distribution of Drug Violence: "On Friday, the Mexican government reported that 80% of the 28,000 drug killings from 2006 through July 31 have been concentrated in just 6% of the country’s 2,456 municipalities. These revelations constitute the first official mapping of Mexico’s drug war. Alejandro Poire, the technical secretary of the National Public Security Council, indicated that there currently are seven violent regional conflicts among Mexican drug cartels, with 22,701 officially documented killings concentrated in just 162 municipalities located in major drug-trafficking areas." August 28, 2010, Justice in Mexico Project. a research initiative sponsored by the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego.