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FACTBOX-Security developments in Mexico, Dec. 6-12

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:34 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

Dec 13 (Reuters) - More than 33,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his military campaign against drug cartels when he took office in 2006.

The following are selected incidents during the past week in the escalating drug war that has alarmed investors, tourists, residents and allies such as the United States.

APATZINGAN - Mexican marines killed a top La Familia kingpin in clashes between traffickers and security forces on Thursday in the western state of Michoacan. Five police officers and three civilians, including a baby and a teenager, were killed in the attacks. Gunmen burned vehicles to create road blocks during days of firefights. [ID:nN10114408]

TECALITLAN - Suspected drug cartel gunmen attacked each other during annual religious celebrations on Friday in a small Mexican town, killing 11 people and wounding 22 others, local authorities said. [ID:nN11120998]

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Full coverage of drug war http://link.reuters.com/wam89p

Factbox on political risks in Mexico [ID:nRISKMX]

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MADRID - Three cabin crew members for Mexican flag carrier Aeromexico were arrested with suitcases full of cocaine in Madrid's international airport, the Spanish government said on Thursday. Aeromexico said the staff members were off duty and were traveling as tourists. They were immediately fired.

MONTERREY - Three people were killed on Sunday in the wealthy industrial city of Monterrey where violence has spiked as the Gulf cartel fights its former enforcers the Zetas.

ACAPULCO - The bodies of three decapitated victims of drug violence were found near the Pacific beach resort Acapulco on Sunday. Their heads were found earlier in the week, skinned, and placed on the side of a highway with a message to rival traffickers, local media reported.

ASCENSION - Investigators dug up five bodies in a series mass graves on a remote ranch in northern Chihuahua state, where suspected drug traffickers dumped their victims, the army said on Sunday.

MONTERREY - Gunmen killed the owner of a nightclub in Monterrey's popular old quarter on Monday, police said. Witnesses said a man sitting at a table near the owner stood up to shoot him twice and then escaped, El Universal reported.

MAZATLAN - The remains of two beheaded men were found in a supermarket in the Pacific city of Mazatlan on Sunday and marked with the letter Z, in a reference to the powerful Zetas drug gang, the state attorney general's office said on Monday.

DIAZ ORDAZ - Six suspected hitmen died in a shootout with the Mexican army in Diaz Ordaz in Tamaulipas state near Texas on Monday, the military said. The army also seized grenades and grenade and rocket launchers, as well as several armored vehicles.

CIUDAD JUAREZ - Suspected drug gangs burnt down a nursery school in Ciudad Juarez just before children began to arrive on Monday for failing to pay extortion money, police and Mexican media said. (Compiled by Robin Emmott and Mica Rosenberg in Mexico City)