DEATH TOLL FOR MEXICO DRUG WARS MUCH HIGHER THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

About 28,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug wars since the
government's crackdown began, the country's top intelligence chief
said.

Guillermo Valdes, director of the Centro de Investigacion y Seguridad
Nacional (CISEN), or National Security and Investigation Center, said
at a news conference Tuesday that drug abuse also is on the rise in
Mexico. CISEN, which provides information to various Mexican
government agencies, is similar to the CIA and DEA's El Paso
Intelligence Center.

CISEN's death toll is higher than the national figure of 24,826 that
the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) released in July.

The intelligence agency said that between 2002 and 2008, about 6
percent of Mexico residents between 12 and 65 years old said they had
consumed cocaine, and that the number of people in the nation who used
drugs doubled in that period.

The intelligence agency also released the following statistics for the
number of apprehensions of suspected drug cartel members:

- - Gulf cartel and Zetas: 20,000.

- - Pacific (Sinaloa-Guzman Loera) cartel: 18,000.

- - Juarez (Carrillo Fuentes) cartel: 12,000.

- - Beltran-Leyva cartel: 9,000.