Trouble on the US-Mexico border

Four key kingpins stand out for their power and notoriety.

As Mexico suffers from an onslaught of massacres, decapitations and execution-style hits, six major drug cartels have carved up the country into fiefdoms.

In the midst of a violent drug war, GlobalPost looks at the reaction to U.S. government reports that say the two failing states most worrying to the U.S. defense department are Pakistan and Mexico.

Texas retailers lead other U.S. retailers as the origin of powerful weapons and ammunition flowing into cartel depots in Mexico.

Mexican drug cartels are loading up on bullets in the U.S.

Amid the escalating drug war, dozens of Americans have gone missing along the border. This report looks at South Texas, home of the largest cluster of U.S. residents with relatives who have gone missing in Mexico.

The tale of two brothers who were caught up in the drug war. Their story offers a glimpse into how the American government's actions in Mexico can also lead to casualties.

A spike in murders and kidnappings prompts calls to bring back the death penalty in Mexico.

Mexican crooners sing about drug cartels, and sometimes find themselves the victims of violence.

Journalist Mort Rosenblum weighs in on Mexico’s drug war, writing that "the nature of crime is different now, on a far grander scale, with alarming implications."

Veteran journalist Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes about the U.S. role in Mexico's violence, saying that "the United States is a major actor in this drama from the opening scene to what will someday — perhaps many years from now — be the final curtain. And like it or not, Americans have an enormous investment in the outcome of Calderon's battle against the cartels."

GlobalPost Senior Editor for Latin America John Dinges writes it’s time “to wake up and smell the gunpowder” in this analysis of Mexico’s drug war, which includes his description of a weekend in Juarez, the site of much of the violence.