Gunmen kill 11 patients at drug rehab center in northern Mexico < br />

2012-06-05 04:40:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

TORREÓN, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- A group of gunmen opened fire at a drug rehabilitation center in northern Mexico on late Sunday evening, killing eleven people in what appears to be the latest violence as a result of the country's deadly drug war, state officials said on Monday.

The attack occurred at around 9:30 p.m. local time when armed men arrived at the 'Your Life on the Rock' Rehab Center in the Union area of Torreón, an industrial city in the northern border state of Coahuila. It happened nearly a year after a similar attack at a rehab center nearby.

Police said four gunmen in three pickup trucks arrived at the center and used automatic rifles and pistols as they moved through the building and shot at anyone they came across. Officials said investigators recovered nearly 70 bullet casings at the scene, but investigations were still continuing on Monday.

Eleven male patients were killed in the violent attack and eight others were injured, but some eyewitnesses said some of the wounded patients fled the scene before security forces arrived. Public Security Ministry spokesperson Sergio Sisbeles Alvarado said four of the victims were identified as males aged between 23 and 42.

It was not immediately known who was responsible for Sunday's shooting, but attacks against drug rehabilitation centers are not uncommon and often linked to organized crime. Thirteen people were killed in June 2011 when gunmen attacked a rehab center for alcoholics and drug addicts in Torreón.

As the Mexican drug war continues, the country's Attorney General office (PGR) has said at least 12,903 drug-related killings were reported between January and September 2011, although figures for the entire year are not yet available. This will likely bring the total figure for 2011 to more than 17,000, the highest annual number yet.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-06-05

Can anything be done to correct the situation in Mexico? Or is just hopeless?

Can anything be done to correct the situation in Mexico? Or is just hopeless?

Can anything be done to correct the situation in Mexico? Or is just hopeless?

Least bad option is legalization & taxation funding quality control, policing and education. Makes no sense to have one of the world's oldest and largest industry's run by and largely for the sole profit of organized crime and terrorist organizations.

Attacking a rehab centre.....why?

Is it a case of 'don't you dare come of drugs, you'll affect our profit margins?'

Is there really no end to how low these evil scumbags will stoop?

Edited June 5, 201214 yr by LucidLucifer

Attacking a rehab centre.....why?

Is it a case of 'don't you dare come of drugs, you'll affect our profit margins?'

Is there really no end to how low these evil scumbags will stoop?

Can't have anyone deciding to stop handing their money over to gangsters to buy their drugs, whatever next?

Can anything be done to correct the situation in Mexico? Or is just hopeless?

Can anything be done to correct the situation in Mexico? Or is just hopeless?

Least bad option is legalization & taxation funding quality control, policing and education. Makes no sense to have one of the world's oldest and largest industry's run by and largely for the sole profit of organized crime and terrorist organizations.

100% correct.

Don't know if it'll ever happen though.

Considering the extent of corruption in Mexico, I do have a laugh at those that advocate a free for all with the distribution of illegal and controlled chemicals. It is an incredibly simplistic assumption that somehow the violence will disappear once the open market is established. Where will these drug cartels go? Are the thousands involved in the trade just going to lay down arms and take up knitting knickers for the poor? One has to be delusional to believe that the cartels would allow a regulated industry to replace their activities. We see it now with the smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol. The only solution is to stop dithering and to impose draconian harsh measures such for trafficing and government corruption. It also means treating the cartels as terror organizations and going after them just as one goes after such groups.