MEXICO/ COLOMBIA: Shakira Robbed...While Singing In Monterrey.

BILLBOARD with :37 VIDEO/

   While Colombia's pride Shakira was performing in Monterrey, Mexico... singing and shaking hands with adoring fans...a man adeptly slid a ring off her left hand.
   She appears momentarily stunned...but continues singing.
   Shakira later said the stolen ring wasn't valuable...except for sentimental reasons.

MEXICO: Narcos Busting Monterrey's Boom.

WAPOST/ N. MIROFF, B.BOOTH

WAPO: "As Mexico’s wealthiest urban area, Monterrey is a symbol of the country’s aspirations, with a well-educated workforce, leading universities, thousands of U.S. and other foreign business executives, and a per capita income twice the national average. But today the city is at the front of Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s U.S.-backed drug war, and its future is clouded by lawlessness. As one top executive here said, “If Monterrey is lost, all is lost.”
  "But the same qualities that made Monterrey appealing to investors — good schools, exclusive neighborhoods, upscale restaurants — made it attractive to bosses of the Gulf cartel and its main rival, Los Zetas."

MEXICO: 1ST UPDATE: Floodwaters Continue To Plague The NE And Monterrey.

NYT/ NEW LINK/10 July/       Heavy rains from Hurricane Alex that left at least 30 dead and threatened the Venustiano Carranza and other dams have left misery behind. The Rio Grande River/Rio Bravo which acts a the border between the U.S. and Mexico, rose to its highest level since 1965, about 6m (20ft) above normal. Helicopters  rescued people and soldiers sandbagged one of the international bridges between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo.

MEXICO: 40% Of Monterrey Police Are OUT... After Corruption Screening.

LAHT/            Officials report that 178 municipal officers - 40% of Monterrey’s entire police force - either resigned or were fired after an anti-corruption screening. Mayor Fernando Larrazabal ordered the police force’s 14 command-level officers and 600 patrolmen to be subjected to five evaluations to weed out officers suspected of ties to drug traffickers. About 400 officers remain while 150 cadets are being trained in this city of over 2 million.

MEXICO: In Prosperous Monterrey, "Security Is Collapsing."

NYTIMES/    Wealthy Monterrey had the reputation of being so safe that narco bosses made their families live there. Now the drug gangs have brought even Monterrey to its knees. Police are losing control and the elite are fearful. "Security is collapsing,"  said Chamber of Commerce President Juan Ernesto Sandoval. "The authorities are overwhelmed." A prominent businessman says "... if Monterrey is lost, everything is lost."

MEXICO: Dozens Of Gunmen Storm 2 Monterrey Hotels, Kidnap At Least 7.

NYTIMES/    In perhaps the most brazen attack yet by narco thugs, up to 50 masked gunmen stormed 2 Monterrey hotels at 3 a.m. and kidnapped at least 7 people. Mayor Fernando Larrazabal reported that police couldn't reach the scene because the attackers blocked streets with autos. The kidnappers disappeared in less than 20 minutes. “Unchecked, violence and instability could cause corporations to rethink their business strategy of locating in Mexico,” observed U.S.Ambassador Carlos Pascual.

MEXICO: New Drug Thug Tactics: "Narcobloqueos."

NYTIMES/   Drug traffickers are trying a new tactic to frustrate police and demonstrate their power - blocking city streets and frustrating motorists. For two days in Monterrey, the thugs hijacked dozens of tractor-trailer trucks and blocked-off more than 30 streets and highways. The blockades, called narcobloqueos, caused massive traffic chaos.

MEXICO: Monterrey Purges 25% of Traffic Police.

AP/MIAMI HERALD/
Monterrey has fired almost a quarter of its traffic police for failing tests designed to detect corruption and ineptitude. Half of its traffic cops were ordered to undergo more training after performing poorly on tests while only a quarter were found to be completely fit for the job.

MEXICO: Growing Confrontations Between Police And Military.

AP/MIAMI HERALD/Long analysis/
"This year alone, police and soldiers have confronted one another more than 65 times, The Associated Press has learned - a growing and dangerous trend in the war on drugs.
"The moment they( police) shoot at us, get in our way, use their guns to protect criminals, they become criminals themselves," said Gen. Guillermo Moreno, who commands troops in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas states along the Texas border.