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DRUG TRADE'S GORE EMERGES ONLINE

Graphic Images Raise Concerns Over Their Effects

Mexico's drug-trafficking world, long extolled in narcocorridos that
pay musical tribute to the carnage, is spilling onto the Internet. As
a wave of drug-related violence grips the country, real-life images
of bloody bodies, bullet-riddled cars and stockpiles of cocaine and
assault rifles increasingly make their way to Mexican Web sites and
YouTube, which is seen by millions around the globe. "It's an old war
with a new twist," said Alejandro Paez Varela, an editor at Dia Siete
magazine in Mexico City who has documented the drug cartels' violence
and growing online presence. "It's something truly grotesque."

Some of the YouTube postings mirror the execution-style killings,
kidnappings and shoot-outs that have shaken northern Mexico and other
states in what Mexican authorities say is a turf battle between
drug-trafficking organizations.

Among the images that have been posted: video of a man clad only in
underwear being decapitated with a wire. His chest bears a black "z,"
an apparent reference to the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's infamous hit
men. Another video shows the full autopsy of popular Mexican singer
Valentin Elizalde, who grew up in Sonora. He was shot several times
after a concert in the state of Tamaulipas. The killing came after
the release of a song titled, "To My Enemies," which had triggered a
lot of online buzz about its intention to honor and ridicule
competing drug cartels. User concerns prompted the popular Web site
to flag the two videos as inappropriate.

Mexican authorities have yet to aggressively mine the World Wide Web
for evidence to prosecute suspected drug-traffickers, said Paez,
adding that some of the videos are ripe with drug-activity
information. "Names, places, they are all there," he added.

The online trend is a sign of the times, said Anthony Coulson of the
Drug Enforcement Administration's Tucson office.

In terms of technology, Coulson said, Mexican drug cartels lead
authorities because of their abundant resources. "Their objective
with the YouTube stuff is to send a message -- a very graphic
message." Coulson said federal agents work closely with their Mexican
counterparts, but he said there is no concerted effort to attack the
online phenomenon. "We monitor that stuff when it comes to our
attention, and we do what we can," he said.

In Mexico, some critics contend that the Internet glorifies the drug
violence that keeps claiming lives even as President Felipe Calderon
wages war on organized crime by sending army troops to troublesome
areas. More than 800 people have been killed so far this year,
according to Mexican press reports.

The dead include top law enforcement officials -- including the
police chief of Agua Prieta, Sonora --and various journalists from
throughout the country.

Jose Maria Ramos, a security expert at the research institute Colegio
de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, Baja California, said the
governments on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border should be worried
about the increasing use of the Internet to glamorize drug violence.
In addition to taunting their rivals, drug cartels are trying to
exert influence over a mostly young audience that spreads far beyond
Mexico, he said. "Unfortunately, it's the dark side of the Internet,"
Ramos said. Sociologist Luis Astorga, a drug culture expert at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the online
proliferation of violent drug-related images is a natural progression
of drug-trafficking corridos -- also known as narcocorridos -- that
long have recorded the modern history of the drug trade in
traditional Mexican music. "They're like everyone else: They use
whatever technology is available to send their message," he said.

Even though some YouTube videos appear to have been taped by
suspected criminals, Astorga noted, it appears as if copycats and
regular users are posting many still images and videos that have
aired on television newscasts. The phenomenon -- coupled with the
media attention it grabs -- contributes to elevating the image of
drug traffickers to almost mythical proportions, Astorga said.

"The Internet users who are watching this trend take sides, just as
if they were watching a football game."

Still, Astorga said he doesn't buy the theory that the violent online
videos will mean Internet users will end up criminals. "There are a
lot of people that listen to corridos, and they are not traffickers,"
he said, adding that many factors contribute to whether someone turns
violent. But like Ramos, University of Arizona sociologist Celestino
Fernandez said there is reason for concern.

Noting the Mexican government's efforts to quell the popularity of
narcocorridos, Fernandez said it would serve the people of both
neighboring countries well to pay close attention to the latest
trend. "It's one thing for someone to listen to a narcocorrido and
imagine the violence," he said. "It's a whole different thing to view
the images online."