Drug Wars

Military and forensic experts inspect the body of a man who was killed outside a nightclub in the border city of Ciudad Juarez August 31, 2009.

A man was handcuffed to a fence and shot several times by drug hitmen outside a nightclub, according to local media. The assailants also left a warning message, known as narco mensaje, at the site of the shooting. Picture taken August 31, 2009. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

Drugs are big business and big business means big money means stiff competition. In a normal industry you’d simply try to beat the competition by making a better product or by building a good brand. In the drugs business you simply try to do away with the competition by killing them. Pablo Escobar did it and the Mexican drug gangs have been at it a while too. This year alone thousands of people have been killed in Mexico due to the drug wars and the town of Ciudad Juarez is often the battlefield. As long as the demand is there the supply will keep on coming and death, destruction and wealth with it. GRAPHIC CONTENT.

The body of a man killed execution style and wrapped in bin liners lies by the side of the Acapulco-Mexico highway November 16, 2006. REUTERS/Stringer

Soldiers arrive for a change of guard at Ciudad Juarez March 1, 2010. Mexican drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the long-time head of the Juarez cartel over the border from El Paso, Texas, is fending off a virulent offensive by Mexico's most wanted trafficker Joaquin Shorty Guzman for control of Ciudad Juarez, turning the city into one of the world's most dangerous places. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

Arrested members of a gang are being presented to the media in Guadalajara June 7, 2010. An anonymous caller allerted police who arrested 11 heavily armed people and seized weaponry and drugs, according to local media. REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta

The slain body of a drug hitman is seen among branches after an operation by Mexican soldiers at a ranch near the municipality of Sabinas Hidalgo, some 100 km away from Monterrey April 27, 2010. The army freed sixteen people, including a woman and her son during an operation at a ranch used by hitmen as a safe house, according to local media. The army also seized machineguns, guns, ammunition, four trucks and some 2 tons of marijuana. Two gunmen died during the operation. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

A haul of about 206 million U.S. dollars is seen after it was found stashed in closets, suitcases, and drawers in a house in an upscale neighbourhood of Mexico City March 15, 2007. Law enforcement officials said the money belonged to drugs smugglers who imported chemicals used to make methamphetamines. Seven people were arrested in the raid. Picture taken March 15, 2007. REUTERS/Procuraduria General de La Republica/Handout

Weapons, drugs, money and jewellery seized during several anti-narcotics operations in Mexico are displayed during a news conference at the headquarters of the Attorney General in Mexico City April 23, 2007. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

Packages of cocaine are lined up before they are loaded onto an airplane in San Andre April 13, 2008. Guatemalan anti-narcotics police on Sunday seized 1.2 tons of cocaine on it's way to Mexico. Picture taken April 13, 2008. REUTERS/Policia National Civil/ORIS

Soldiers unload 134 tonnes of marijuana to be incinerated at the military base Morelos in Tijuana October 20, 2010. Soldiers seized the drug on Monday in Mexico's biggest-ever pot haul, the army said. Heavily armed soldiers raided a series of homes in a poor suburb of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, and came under fire at least once as they took the drugs, also arresting 11 suspected traffickers. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

Soldiers pile up 134 tonnes of marijuana to be incinerated at the military base Morelos in Tijuana October 20, 2010. Soldiers seized the drug on Monday in Mexico's biggest-ever pot haul, the army said. Heavily armed soldiers raided a series of homes in a poor suburb of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, and came under fire at least once as they took the drugs, also arresting 11 suspected traffickers. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

Tonnes of marijuana are being incinerated at the military base Morelos in Tijuana October 20, 2010. Soldiers seized 134 tonnes of marijuana on Monday in Mexico's biggest-ever pot haul, the army said. Heavily armed soldiers raided a series of homes in a poor suburb of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, and came under fire at least once as they took the drugs, also arresting 11 suspected traffickers. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

Mexican soldiers look as 134 tonnes of marijuana are incinerated at Morelos military base in Tijuana October 20, 2010. Soldiers seized the drug on Monday in Mexico's biggest-ever pot haul, the army said. Heavily armed soldiers raided a series of homes in a poor suburb of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, and came under fire at least once as they took the drugs, also arresting 11 suspected traffickers. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

An evidence marker lies next to a pair of sun glasses and a puddle of blood at a crime scene where 8 people were dumped after being executed by hitmen in Ciudad Juarez April 28, 2010. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

Gold and silver plated pistols are shown to the media in Guadalajara in this May 2, 2010 photo. The Mexican army raided the house of a family member of Oscar Nava Orlando Valencia, the leader of a drug trafficking gang who is currently in prison, and seized dozens of weapons, some of the plated in gold or silver and encrusted with precious stones, according to local media. Picture taken May 2, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

Police arrest a gunman at a house where a hostage was being held in a residential area in Ciudad Juarez May 19, 2010. After an exchange of fire, police arrested five gunmen and rescued the hostage, according to local media. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

A girl stands next to the coffin of three-year old Iliana Hernandez during a wake in Ciudad Juarez June 3, 2010. Ileana and her father were driving in car when unknown assailants gunned them down on June 1. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

A family member and a friend mourn for Sergio Hernandez in Ciudad Juarez June 9, 2010. Mexico demanded an investigation on Tuesday into the apparent shooting death of a teenager by a U.S. border patrol agent, an incident bound to stoke cross-border tensions over illegal immigration. Witnesses said they saw the unidentified agent shoot at Hernandez, aged around 14, on Monday under the bridge crossing between El Paso Texas and Ciudad Juarez, a violent city on the frontlines of Mexico's war against drug cartels. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

The bodies of two men lie on the outskirts of Cuernavaca June 17, 2010. The men were found with their hands tied and faces wrapped in duct tape with the letters CPS written on them, local media reported. REUTERS/Margarito Perez Retana

Two bodies hang from a bridge near a commercial area in Cuernavaca July 13, 2010. A total of three men, all repeatedly shot at while hanging with their heads covered up and hands bound, were found hanging from two bridges in the same commercial area of Cuernavaca, local media reported. REUTERS/Margarito Perez

The slain bodies of two drug gang members are seen inside a house after a gunfight with the army at a ranch approximately 90 mi (140 km) from Monterrey September 2, 2010. At least 25 suspected drug gang members were killed in an army raid in rural northeastern Mexico on Thursday, the army said in a press release. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

A policeman uses a metal detector to look for bullets next to the bodies of two men and a woman in Mateo on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa September 6, 2010. The victims were handcuffed when their bodies were discovered on Monday. The three, identified as 19-year-old Edgard Antonio Zuniga Pavon, 17-year-old Leonardo Osorto Corralez and 23-year-old Katherine Desire Bonilla, are believed to have been executed, according to local media reports. REUTERS/Danny Ramirez

A Colombian navy soldier collects packages of cocaine in Cartagena after they were shown to the media September 12, 2010. Around 1,133 kg of drugs were seized during an operation near Cartagena, according to authorities. REUTERS/Jairo Castilla

A police officer guards a crime scene where four men were gunned down in a drive-by shooting in the border city of Ciudad Juarez August 22, 2008. More than 2,000 people have died this year in Mexico's drug war, mostly between rival gangs, in a fight for control of smuggling corridors into the United States. Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, has the highest murder toll of the country this year, with 867 killed, according to media. Picture taken August 22, 2008. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

A woman shows her nails decorated with marijuana leaves and images of narco patron saint Jesus Malverde in the northwestern city of Culiacan in this May 14, 2008 file photo. Each year, dozens compete in beauty pageants in the sun-baked hills of Sinaloa state where their legendary good looks draw wealthy drug traffickers who will sometimes pluck one out and spirit her off to a mountain hide-out. REUTERS/Mica Rosenberg

A policeman stands surrounded by Marijuana plants after taking part in the seizure of the plantation in Tijuana, in Mexico's state of Baja California June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

Members of the Honduras police bomb squad open a box containing the body of a woman at La Cabana neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa, June 23, 2009. The bomb squad was called in to inspect the contents of the box, which was believed to contain a bomb. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

A man lies dead among evidence markers at a crime scene in the border city of Ciudad Juarez July 13, 2009. More than 12,300 people have died in Mexico in a three-way war between rival cartels and the army since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops against the cartels in December 2006. Picture taken July 13, 2009. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

A member of Colombia's Navy checks cocaine seized in the Gulf of Morrosquillo, in Cartagena September 4,2009. Approximately 1.9 tonnes of cocaine were seized the Navy said. REUTERS/Jairo Castilla

Two women hug as forensic workers inspect a crime scene in the border city of Ciudad Juarez July 30, 2009. Local government deputy Claudia Lorena Pérez Marrufo and her companion were fatally injured after a drive-by shooting incident. More than 12,300 people have died in Mexico in a three-way war between rival cartels and the army since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops against the cartels in December 2006. REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas

A Mexican Police officer arrests a pregnant young woman for possession of drugs, outside a nightclub in Ciudad Juarez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, on the U.S. border with El Paso,Texas, on May 8, 2003. About 100 women have been killed by serial murderer or murderers and 200 more in other violent incidents since 1993. The crimes have attracted wide condemnation for their brutality and, although several alleged culprits have been put behind bars, the murders have continued. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

A policeman stands outside the house where members of drug trafficking gang were arrested in Alvaro Obregon district, Mexico City, in this handout picture dated October 18, 2008. Out of the fifteen people who were arrested, ten are Colombians, according to the police. REUTERS/Secretaria de Seguridad Publica Federal

Forensic workers stand next to 11 of 16 slain bodies dumped in an abandoned lot in the border city of Tijuana September 29, 2008. Police found 16 bodies dumped in the seedy Mexican border city of Tijuana on Monday in what the state attorney general's office said could be a revenge attack for the arrest of a local drug gang hit man. REUTERS/Stringer

Investigators photograph a victim of one of four narco-related shootouts in Guatemala City January 28, 2009. Authorities reported four people killed and two injured in the shootouts where hundreds of rounds were fired from automatic weapons. Guatemala, scarred by years of civil war and rampant street gang crime, is suffering a new scourge as violent Mexican drug traffickers put down deep roots in the country. Picture taken January 28, 2009. REUTERS/Daniel LeClair

A Colombian anti-narcotics policemen inspect packs of cocaine seized at the port in Buenaventura, March 23, 2009. Colombian police confiscated at least 3.5 short tons of cocaine. REUTERS/John Vizcaino

Residents look at a body found inside a supermarket cart in the Morro dos Macacos slum in Rio de Janeiro October 20, 2009. The man is suspected to have been killed by rival drug gangs, residents say. Brazil's president offered on Monday nearly $60 million in federal money to help Rio de Janeiro police combat drug gangs after 17 people were killed in weekend violence that raised questions over the city's ability to safely host the 2016 Olympics. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Federal policemen and soldiers stand guard near seized barrels they suspect contain the ingredients to make crystal methamphetamines during an operation against the Michoacan cartel known as La Familia (The Family) in Apatzingan in Mexico's state of Michoacan, October 29, 2009. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

The slain body of a man killed in a drive by shooting is pictured at a police crime scene in the municipality of Guadalupe, neighbouring Monterrey April 24, 2010. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

Mexican soldiers escort suspected drug hitmen as they are presented to the media at a military base on the outskirts of Monterrey April 26, 2010. The army freed seven people after a shooting with drug hitmen in the municipality of General Bravo. The army also seized 10,000 bullets, 311 magazines, 4 grenades, 12 vehicles and radios, according to local media. Three gunmen died during the shooting. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

Bodies hang from a bridge in a commercial area of Cuernavaca August 22, 2010. Four hanged bodies were found with severed heads and genitals, local media reported. REUTERS/Margarito Perez

Members of a forensic team work near garbage bags containing the dismembered bodies of four people in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos near Guadalajara September 28, 2010. The bags were found at a bus station. REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta

Police women stand guard outside a house, the site of a suspected mass grave, in Ciudad Juarez October 4, 2010. Forensic investigators and the military are searching for the remains of victims of drug crimes, according to local media. REUTERS/Gael Gonzalez

A fireman prepares to bring down one of two male bodies hanging from a bridge in Tijuana October 11, 2010. Both men had been decapitated and were hanging from the bridge with their hands and feet bound. REUTERS/Stringer

A gold-plated Kalashnikov automatic rifle and a gold-plated silencer are shown, among other weapons, during a media presentation in Guadalajara October 13, 2010. The army showed drugs, tactical police equipment and weapons seized during a raid on a farm after an anonymous citizen report. REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta

Federal policemen stand guard near the slain body of a comrade in Ciudad Juarez October 15, 2010. Suspected drug hitmen shot several times and killed a plain-clothed federal policeman while he was driving his vehicle at the hotel zone, according to local media. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

Residents look at a crime scene where three members of a family were gunned down in Ciudad Juarez October 17, 2010. Drug hitmen killed three persons (a woman and two men) and left one more injured after an attack at their home in a working class neighbourhood, according to local media. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

Marisol Valles Garcia (C) attends a news conference with Mayor Jose Luis Guerrero (R) and local official Andres Morales, in Praxedis G.Guerrero October 20, 2010. Twenty-year-old Garcia is the new police chief of one of Mexico's most dangerous drug war border towns, the only person to take the job where local cops have quit or been killed. REUTERS/Gael Gonzalez

A dead man sits in the passenger seat of a car which crashed after a police chase next to the body of another man lying by the curb in Ciudad Juarez October 20, 2010. Another car in similar condition was found next to this one with a dead man and a dead woman inside and it was not immediately clear if the people in the vehicles were shot dead by the police or if they died when their cars crashed during the chase. No police report of the incident was available. Local media reported 12 crime related deaths in the city on Wednesday. REUTERS/Gael Gonzalez

Morgue workers carry a coffin containing an unidentified body at the San Rafael cemetery on the outskirts of the border city of Ciudad Juarez October 22, 2010. The bodies of 21 men and four women, killed in drug-related incidents, were buried on Friday after being held in the city morgue for several months without being claimed by relatives. REUTERS/Gael Gonzalez

Morgue workers place a coffin containing an unidentified body into a grave at the San Rafael cemetery on the outskirts of the border city of Ciudad Juarez October 22, 2010. The bodies of 21 men and four women, killed in drug-related incidents, were buried on Friday after being held in the city morgue for several months without being claimed by relatives. REUTERS/Gael Gonzalez