Quote:
Originally Posted by Machete_
who were the men? random civilians or rival gang members?
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They were almost definitely involved directly in the drug trade, or were family members of those who were. I spend a lot of time in border towns in Texas for my expediting business, and in the last few months I have been in Juarez, Mexico (on the border of El Paso, Tx.), Ciudad De Acuna (on the border of Del Rio), and Nuevo Laredo (on the border of Laredo). Tourism was already getting bad in the border towns when the US started requiring passports to get back into the country from Mexico, but it's now horrendous since people are avoiding even resort towns in Mexico due to the violence hysteria.
I have to say I am stunned how well I am always treated in the Mexican border towns. They are so tourism starved that they treat foreigners like gold, and I never once felt like I wasn't safe. The violence is almost entirely between the drug gangs, and if you use your head and don't go looking for trouble you won't find it. Of course if you walk the streets drunk you are asking to get shaked down by the cops, since public drunkenness by foreigners is really looked down upon in Mexico (go figure), but it's nothing a $20 bill won't get you out of...