Toll of Mexico's Drug War: 47,500 since 2006 and Counting

... and 2011 looks to have been the most violent in years.

As far as statistics go, this is about as disheartening as they get: More than 47,500 people have been killed in Mexico's drug war in just the past five years. And that death toll shows no signs of slowing down, as 12,903 people were killed between January and Sept. 30 of 2011, a 10-per-cent jump from the year before. Estimates suggest that if that rate of killing continued to the end of 2011, more than 17,000 people would have been killed last year, making it Mexico's deadliest year since the drug war began. (All the figures come from Mexico's attorney general.) Now, much of the violence in Mexico is localized – the border town of Ciudad Juarez is still by far the most violent, while places such as Cancun have crime rates more in line with the U.S. or Canada. The continued violence has greatly weakened public support for the U.S. and Mexico's anti-drug efforts in the country, and is expected to be a central issue in the upcoming presidential elections in Mexico.