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Friday

Friday

Mexico Takes Out Cartel Heads, But Crime Continues To Climb

The alleged leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Omar Trevino Morales, is taken under custody to be presented to the press at the Attorney General Office's hangar at the airport in Mexico City, on March 4. Mexican authorities captured Trevino Wednesday, dealing a blow to the feared gang and giving the embattled government a second major arrest in a week. Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Mexico Takes Out Cartel Heads, But Crime Continues To Climb

Mexican authorities have scored some big arrests of major drug cartel leaders in recent weeks. But most experts say that's not enough: Police, legal and judicial institutions need strengthening.

Mexico Takes Out Cartel Heads, But Crime Continues To Climb

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Friday

Monday

Mexican Police Helped Cartel Massacre 193 Migrants, Documents Show

Pablo Cote holds a photo of his deceased father of the same name in July 2013 in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Cote was kidnapped while driving back from the U.S. border to the east-central state of Tlaxcala. He was beaten to death, part of the mass killing of 193 bus passengers and other travelers by the Zetas. Ivan Pierre Aguirre/AP hide caption

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Ivan Pierre Aguirre/AP

The Americas

Mexican Police Helped Cartel Massacre 193 Migrants, Documents Show

Members of the Zeta cartel, which was fighting for control of regional human trafficking networks, told prosecutors 18 officers worked as lookouts, as well as turning a blind eye to cartel activity.

Friday

43 Missing Students, 1 Missing Mayor: Of Crime And Collusion In Mexico

Groups of rural and community police arrive in the city of Iguala on Tuesday to help in the search for 43 students who disappeared after a confrontation with local police on Sept. 26. Miguel Tovar/STF/LatinContent/Getty Images hide caption

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Miguel Tovar/STF/LatinContent/Getty Images

Parallels

43 Missing Students, 1 Missing Mayor: Of Crime And Collusion In Mexico

The town at the center of the students' disappearance has a history of political and police corruption. The mayor's own mother-in-law said he was on a drug gang's payroll, earning $155,000 a month.

43 Missing Students, 1 Missing Mayor: Of Crime And Collusion In Mexico

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Sunday

Migrant Heads Home To Mexico — And Joins Fight Against Cartel

Reny Pineda was born in Michoacan, Mexico, but grew up in Los Angeles. In 2010 he returned to his homeland, and joined a vigilante battle against a ruthless cartel ruling the region. Now the Mexican government has ordered the civilian militias to disband, and Pineda picks lemons in this orchard. Alan Ortega/KQED hide caption

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Alan Ortega/KQED

The Americas

Migrant Heads Home To Mexico — And Joins Fight Against Cartel

KQED

In the Mexican state of Michoacan, civilian militias have put a powerful drug cartel, the Knights Templar, on the run. Among the vigilantes are migrants, like Reny Pineda, returning from the U.S.

Migrant Heads Home To Mexico — And Joins Fight Against Cartel

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Monday

With Cartels On The Run, Mexican Lime Farmers Keep More Of The Green

Workers sort through key limes at a packaging house in Apatzingan, Michoacan. More than 90 percent of limes imported into the U.S. come from Mexico. Carrie Kahn/NPR hide caption

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Carrie Kahn/NPR

The Salt

With Cartels On The Run, Mexican Lime Farmers Keep More Of The Green

Thanks to a big spring crop in Veracruz and police crackdowns on drug cartels, high prices for Mexican limes are falling earthward, just in time for summer cocktails. Mexican farmers are celebrating.

With Cartels On The Run, Mexican Lime Farmers Keep More Of The Green

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Monday

Tuesday

In Mexico: Cartel Leader May Be Dead, Key Lieutenant Captured

Sept. 1, 2010: Police stood guard by a truck containing some of the bodies of immigrants killed by members of the Zetas drug cartel in Tamaulipas state. Jorge Dan/Xinhua /Landov hide caption

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Jorge Dan/Xinhua /Landov

The Two-Way

In Mexico: Cartel Leader May Be Dead, Key Lieutenant Captured

Heriberto Lazcano, "The Executioner," was reportedly killed Sunday in a battle with Mexican marines. Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo, known as "Squirrel," was captured hours earlier.

Tuesday

'Queen Of Cocaine' Is Gunned Down In Colombia

Griselda Blanco, the "queen of cocaine," in a 2004 photo posted by the Florida Department of Corrections. Fla. Dept. of Corrections hide caption

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Fla. Dept. of Corrections

The Two-Way

'Queen Of Cocaine' Is Gunned Down In Colombia

Griselda Blanco was infamous for building the drug trafficking network between Medellin and the U.S. in the '70s and for ordering the deaths of dozens. She served almost 20 years in a U.S. prison. Monday, the 69-year-old "black widow' was assassinated.