Mexico warning but many still traveling there from Chicago
Many not changing their plans despite violence
The brutal weekend murders of two U.S. consulate workers and a relative in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez have prompted the State Department to advise against unnecessary travel to northern Mexico.
Escalating drug wars -- which last month brought an alleged Mexican cocaine kingpin to face trial in Chicago -- are believed to have claimed the lives of consular workers Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37; and Lesley A. Enriquez, 35; and Enriquez's husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 34.
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
Tijuana Cartel: Has a reputation for extreme violence. Has infiltrated Mexico's police and court systems. Featured in 2000 film "Traffic."
Sinaloa Cartel: Founded by Pedro Aviles Perez in the late 1960s. Pioneered use of aircraft to smuggle drugs to U.S.
Los Zetas: Founded by assassins who deserted Mexican Army. U.S. government says it is "the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico." Trains teens to enter U.S. to kill rival drug operations here.
Beltran-Leyva: Launders drug money though hotels and restaurants. In 2009, Mexican authorities killed Arturo Beltran-Leyva, the "chief of chiefs," using intelligence reports supplied by U.S. DEA.
La Familia: Opposes sales of drugs to Mexicans but is the biggest supplier of methamphetamine to the U.S. A quasi-religious sect, its leader, known as El Mas Loco, carries a "bible" containing his own sayings.
Gulf Cartel: Founded in the 1970s by Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, a bootlegger who got his start smuggling whisky during Prohibition.
Juarez Cartel: Controls one of the primary routes into U.S. In 1997, then-leader Amado Carrillo-Fuentes died after extensive plastic surgery.
Foreign policy research institute, Congressional Research Service, news reports
Ceniceros' children -- aged 4 and 7 -- were injured, but Enriquez's 1-year-old daughter survived unhurt after suspected members of the Aztecas street gang shot at both families as they left a child's party in two SUVs.
It's not clear if they'd been targeted, or if so, why, according to FBI investigators aiding Mexican efforts to catch the killers.
The murders were condemned by Mexican President Felipe Calderon and President Obama, who was "deeply saddened and outraged," the White House said.
With nearly 50 people killed in gang violence in Mexico this weekend, and 10,000 killed since Calderon declared war on drugs in 2007, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said the "appalling" murders of members of her department were "sadly, part of a growing tragedy besetting many communities in Mexico."
Most travelers heading to Mexico from Chicago on Monday said they were aware of a State Department travel warning affecting Mexico's border states.
"I'm a little bit scared, but I'm going for work so I have no choice," said engineer Dan Hughes, 45, who was flying to Monterrey from O'Hare Airport.
The University of Illinois used a print ad Monday to warn students planning a spring break in Mexico not to leave resorts or stop near the border.
And Loyola students heading to Ciudad Juarez on a school trip in May might have to stay on the U.S. side of the border in El Paso, Chaplain Patrick Eccles said.
But in the heart of Chicago's Mexican community, in Little Village, few changed their travel plans, travel agents said.
On most days, around 25 people take the noon bus to Mexico at Turimex International, 2139 S. California. The same number went Monday, staff said.
At Damen Travel, 10 passengers were headed to Mexico on Monday night. "They want to make sure that they arrive in Mexico in the daytime so they can make their connecting trips in daylight, because traveling in the night can be scary," office manager Fran Stankovich said.
Contributing: AP