“Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users” highlights the heinous murders of two bloggers in Neuvo Laredo, Mexico.  As “Mexico murders show how Internet empowers, threatens” too explains, the bloggers are believed to have been killed for reporting on Mexican drug cartels.

The August 2011 National Drug Threat Assessment also reports about the Mexican drug cartels.  Pages 40-41 of the assessment describe how the Mexican cartels hide / launder illicit profits through bulk-cash smuggling, foreign bank accounts and the Black Market Peso Exchange informal banking system.

Another feature of the assessment is a table referring to these cartels as transnational crime organizations (“TCOs”).  This table documents the activities of the cartels in nine U.S. regions:

Table: U.S. Department of Justice

Copyright 2011 Fred L. Abrams