Assailants kill woman, wound two others in Mexican border city

Corpus Christi Caller-Times/AP ^ | March 3, 2006

[SwinneySwitch]

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico- Assailants shot and killed a 17-year-old woman and wounded two other teenagers in a pre-dawn attack Saturday in the center of this violent border city, police said.

At 3:30 a.m. Saturday, gunmen shot and killed Nataly Berlanga, 17, as she was riding in a car near an international bridge, which spans across the Rio Grande and connects to Laredo, Texas, said state investigator Oscar Sepulveda.

Roberto Moreno Cardenas, 19, and Jose Carlos Ruiz, 18, were both shot in the neck, but Ruiz managed to drive to a nearby hospital, Sepulveda said.

Witness told police the three had just left a discoteque.

Police said the three lived in Laredo, Texas, but could not confirm their nationality.

It was the second murder in two days. On Friday, an unknown number of assailants killed a couple shortly after they pulled into their driveway, Sepulveda said.

Since the beginning of the year, 38 people have been shot and killed in ambush-style attacks in Nuevo Laredo, which has been caught in a turf war between rival drug gangs fighting for billion-dollar smuggling routes into the United States.

[SwinneySwitch]

Baghdad on the Rio Grande.

[darkwing104]

Watch them to try and blame this one on Candians...

[DOGEY]

Mexico has very strict gun laws. Thank God.

[XR7]

Since the beginning of the year, 38 people have been shot and killed in ambush-style attacks in Nuevo Laredo, which has been caught in a turf war between rival drug gangs fighting for billion-dollar smuggling routes into the United States.

Our leaders don't have a clue.
The dope, along with illegals, is flowing in unchecked.
Wonder how this is all gonna turn out for our free republic.

[SauronOfMordor]

Quick solution: deploy the military (either regular or national guard) to seal the border air tight. When the smuggling routes are no longer usable, they will have no value worth fighting over

[SouthTexas]

I have a question. Years ago, this same scenario was present in the Brownsville/Matamoros area. What happened there that either stopped it or pushed it out to the west?

[DJ Taylor]

"I have a question. Years ago, this same scenario was present in the Brownsville/Matamoros area. What happened there that either stopped it or pushed it out to the west?"

Sooner or later, one side or the other wins, eliminates the competition, and the war is over.

[SUSSA]

Mexico has very strict gun laws. Thank God.

####

Right, this can't be a true story. Things like this can't happen in places with strict gun laws.

[SouthTexas]

Could be, but don't think that's the case. There will always be someone to step into the vacuum.

[DJ Taylor]

You will see a resurgence of killing in the Brownsville/Matamoros area if another drug trafficking organization challenges the current controllers of the Brownsville/Matamoros drug infiltration routes.

Just because the killing has stopped in this area does not mean that drug traffickers have taken up another line of work.

[SouthTexas]

They may have taken up a new line of work, pushing up sunflowers (not too many daises around here).

Just wonder if the violent bunch just moved, and why, or if it was something both countries collaborated on.

The drug trade is never going away. As long as there is a market, there will be a supplier.

[bordergal]

Time to reinstitute draconian laws for drug dealers and users?

If you buy it, you support this type of violence.

[rikkir]

Damn shame too, use to go there a lot. There is a little open air cantina about three or four block straight off the bridge where we used go drink Tecate with lime and smoke a fairly decent Cuban Cigar for a reasonable price. The people there were always friendly, and I never had a bad experience in Nuevo Laredo. Wife and I liked it better than Juarez, as it had more of a small town atmosphere. They have a beautiful little town square and park there.
I was hoping to retire to a border town so I could do just what I mentioned, sit in a cantina, sip Tecate, and smoke Cubans for my remaining days. Sad to think that wish may not happen now with all th violence.