Drug Violence In Mexico Threatens U.S. Borders

By Jason Beaubien,

Robert Smith

Published February 28, 2009 at 2:37 PM EST

A brutal wave of drug violence is ravaging cities near the U.S.-Mexico border, and governments of both countries pointed fingers at each other this week over who's to blame.

More than 6,000 people were killed south of the border last year — 1,000 have died already this year — and a new State Department report says violence is now spilling over the U.S. border.

Jason Beaubien

Jason Beaubien is a Peabody award-winning journalist. He's filed stories from more than 60 countries around the world. His reporting tends to focus on issues in lower-income countries. Often his reports highlight inequities, injustices and abuses of power. He also regularly writes about natural disasters, wars and human conflict. Over the last two decades he's covered hurricanes in the Caribbean, typhoons in the Philippines, multiple earthquakes in Haiti, the Arab Spring, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the drug war in Mexico.

Robert Smith

Robert Smith is a host for NPR's Planet Money where he tells stories about how the global economy is affecting our lives.