Border killings
Everyone pays a price for drug traffickers' crime

The wanton murder of six people Sunday night at an upscale restaurant in
Ciudad Juarez can only be described as horrifying. Drugrelated murders
by traffickers in El Paso's sister city are nothing new, but Sunday's
attack had a new twist. The victims of murderous thugs armed with AK47
assault rifles included individuals with no known connection to the drug
trade.

"People are afraid," said a spokesperson for Chihuahua Gov. Francisco
Barrio Terrazas. "As narcotraffickers fight among themselves, it's
becoming more dangerous for the civilian population." Ciudad Juarez
police, who recovered 150 spent shells from the floor of the city's
MaxFim restaurant, were at a loss to cite a precedent in the city's
modern history for the ganglandstyle murders. Law enforcement officials
believe the incident was related to a struggle for power in the
aftermath of last month's death in Mexico City of a Ciudad Juarezbased
drug lord, Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

In trying to establish what growing lawlessness means to the region,
comparisons between Mexico and the United States will be of limited use.
At a time when state government officials in northern Mexico and Texas
have been trying to capitalize on the unique attractions of the
U.S.Mexican frontier by promoting crossborder tourism, Sunday's
incident figures to undermine everyone's goals.

The vicious murder of six patrons in a popular border restaurant was an
appalling shame. But an assault on the livelihood of thousands of
hardworking Mexicans and Americans in the tourist trade would only
compound the shame. Authorities on both sides of the border have no
choice but to send the message that no one can be allowed to act with
such impunity.