15 killed in Mexico car wash

Gunmen killed 15 people and injured at least two others at a car wash on Wednesday in western Mexico. It was the third massacre related to drug gangs in the country in less than a month. The victims were mostly young men who lived at a drug rehabilitation centre and the five of the gunmen arrested belonged to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The police said that rehabilitation facilities were increasingly being targeted by drug cartels who suspected the clinic of harbouring members from rival gangs. Earlier this week, a dozen recovering addicts were attacked in Tijuana, in Baja Californa. And in September, 28 were killed on two rehab clincs in another city. The Mexico President Felipe Calderon blamed the US for the high demand for drugs and the easy flow of illegal weapons, which fueled the violence in Mexico. He also urged California voters in the US to veto the legalization of marijuana in their state.

Mexico is a country notorious for its drug-gang violence which is either targeted at the police or other rival drug gangs. The highest drug-gang crime rate occurred close to the border shared with the US. It is therefore interesting and unsurprising to observe that President Calderon attributed the uncontrollable chaos to the US. Indeed, cross border crimes such as drug gang violence are affected by the economic and legal system in the counterpart country, though the effectiveness of the law enforcement and social order control in one's own country should not be neglected. Cross border cooperation is the only root solution to this type of problem, taken into account the fact that both countries’ interests are at stake.

But perhaps one may be more curious to wonder why one drug gang targets violence at another drug gang since both gangs are basically of the same kind. Social identity theory may offer an account for the conflict. The theory holds that different groups inevitably engage in social comparison. When something bad happens to one group (for example, when its economic interest is endangered), the group would tend to blame the other comparable group for it. Competition and hatred ensue, resulting in conflicts whose purpose is to destroy the opponent group (even if the opponent group no longer poses any realistic threats). Here the loss of income from drug dealings due to competition with other drug gangs is the crucial factor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11639980