Shooting Leaves Three U.S. Embassy Employees Dead in Mexico

These represent the latest deaths in the cartel drug wars, which Mexico is fighting with little success. Hungry demand for drugs in the United States, and laws that keep the various drugs illegal, literally fuel this violent tragic cycle of life and death in Mexico.

(CIUDAD JUAREZ / SALEM) - A shooting at the American embassy left two American citizens dead, as well as a Mexican national. All worked at the U.S. Consulate.

The shooting happened Saturday afternoon, near the Santa Fe International bridge. This is the connection between Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.

The driver, 35-year old Lesley A. Enriquez, was shot in the head. Her husband, 34-year old Arthur H. Redelfs, was shot in the neck and arm. The couple's one-year old baby, in the back seat of the vehicle, was not harmed in the shooting.

The AP reports that the shooting in this "drug-plagued Mexican city" happened shortly after gunmen murdered the husband of another consular employee, wounding his two children in the process, according to officials.

37-year old Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros was shot to death in his car in the presence of his two children, who are four and seven years old. They were both wounded in the shooting and hospitalized.

A Salem-News.com contact in the area, Tosh Plumlee, says it has become almost impossible for anyone in this part of Mexico to travel safely, even the Army.

"This is a real mess down here... It's a War Zone and the streets of Juarez are deserted after 9:00 p.m. -- Very few people on the streets in the daylight hours, also. Some of the Mexican Army troops will not even go out into the neighborhoods, out of fear. They have brought in the Mexican Navy 'Seals' from Mexico City to do the clean-up."

Tosh also mentioned how cartel members tried unsuccessfully to kidnap the 7-year old daughter of an ICE Agent near Columbus, crossing the border in the process.

These murders represent the latest deaths in the cartel drug wars, which Mexico is fighting with little success. Hungry demand for drugs in the United States, and laws that keep the various drugs illegal, literally fuel this violent tragic cycle of life and death in Mexico.

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Mitch March 15, 2010 2:28 pm (Pacific time)

Twice on the page the author of this article blames the drug laws for fueling this violence instead of the gunmen and criminals . Just because someone wants something that is illegal, immoral or unethical and goes out and gets it in clear violation of the laws of society doesn't mean the law is bad.

Tim King: Mitch, tell me what the answers are. Sadly, we have been learning a lot about this and the history, and it is incredibly depressing to know just how much of a hand the U.S. government had in it, and possibly still does. We have a strong contact who actually was involved in the early days of flying and delivering these shipments. So to summarize, it looks like the only agency responsible for fueling these drug wars is the U.S. government. Want to know the kicker? It looks like Nancy Reagan started the War on Drugs at almost the exact same time that the weapons for drugs program started, and soon aircraft were buzzing all over N and S America delivering deadly weapons and collecting white drugs to turn around and put on our streets. The fault is probably not that important next to the reality. We need answers, if you have them state them, don't just lay your moral judgment down.

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