Unofficial figures from the national media in Mexico reports that 7,600 died in the war on drugs in the country in 2009.

Source:  Arthur Brice, “Deadliest year in Mexico’s war on drugs,” CNN, January 1, 2010.

At the end of 2009, the Mexican city of Juarez had 7,000 orphans and 100,000 people displaced from killings associated with the war between drug cartels and the federal government.

Source:  William Booth and Steve Fainaru, “Mexico weighs options as lawlessness continues to grip Ciudad Juarez,” Washington Post, December 27, 2009.

According to US Government estimates, the illegal drug industry in Mexico directly employs 450,000 people.

Source:  Philip Caputo, “The Fall of Mexico,” The Atlantic, December 2009.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, on average a woman is killed in the Mexico state of Sinaloa every week in a drug cartel killing in 2009.

Source:  Tracy Wilkenson, “Women play a bigger role in Mexico’s drug war,” Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2009.

In 2009, the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez was averaging 7 killings a day due to the drug war between cartels.

Source: Associated Press, “Murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, at all-time high,” Google News, October 21, 2009.

Between 1993 to 2009, 15 Priests in Mexico have been killed under suspicious circumstances.

Source:  Sara Miller Llana, “Mexico’s drug war: priests speak out,” Christian Science Monitor, October 4, 2009.

The Attorney General for Mexico stated that 90 percent of all victims who have been killed by drug-related crimes during the Mexico Drug War were criminals themselves.

Source: Sara Miller Llana, “For Mexicans seeking to cross the US border, it’s not just about jobs anymore,” Christian Science Monitor, September 25, 2009.

Organized crime and drug cartel violence may cause Mexico’s GDP to lose up to 3 percent.

Source: Jens Erik Gould and Hugh Collins, “Mexico Violence May Sap 3% of GDP as Gangs Flourish,” Bloomberg, September 14, 2009.

Between December 2006 and July 2009, the Mexican government has arrested 76,765 drug traffickers during its ongoing drug war.

Source: William Booth and Steve Fainaru, “Mexico urged to change drug war strategy,” Boston Globe, July 29, 2009.

Mexican authorities have seized over 100,000 guns in its ongoing drug war with the cartels.  Of this amount 20,000 guns were sent to the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  18,000 of these guns were manufactured, imported, or sold in the United States.

However, only 7,900 of these guns, or 44 percent, were traced back to a federally licensed dealer.  These rest are believed to have either been sold at gun shows where a background check is not required.

Source:  Stewart M. Powell, “Gun shows, thieves linked to drug weapons,” Houston Chronicle, July 16, 2009.