2010-03-30 CNN
Drug- related violence has gotten so bad that the Mexican border town of Juarez is now one of the most dangerous places in the world to live and die.CNN's Gary Tuchman gives us a blood-curdling first-person account of the incredible violence there. And I've got to warn you, this story is not for the squeamish.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This man has just watched gunmen ambush his brother and murder him. In one of the most frightening cities in the world, Juarez, Mexico, a place where 16 young people can get killed at a party by narco traffickers, who apparently made a mistake, targeting the wrong house and few are stunned by it.
Drug cartels are at war in this city of 1.5 million; law-abiding citizens be damned.
This past weekend, we went to the funeral of an American woman who worked at the U.S. consulate in Juarez. She was shot and killed, along with her American husband and unborn child. It happened right in front of the Juarez mayor's office, a stone's throw away from El Paso, Texas.
Over the next few hours we saw firsthand what has led to Juarez having the highest murder rate in the world.
(on camera): There's no such thing as a quiet weekend day here in Ciudad Juarez. About one hour ago, police got a call that in this murky river there was a body. When they got to the scene, they indeed found the body with a bullet hole right in the forehead. Behind me, members of the military with guns, police; these guys will probably be at another murder later today.
(voice-over): We didn't realize how quickly we'd see them again.
(on camera): Only ten minutes after we left that river, a five- minute drive away, this was the scene. Two men in that gold pick-up, six gunmen came up to them. The driver ran out, was shot and now he is under that tarp.
(voice-over): Why was he targeted? We may never know. This is the brother of the victim who was also in the pickup. The gunmen left him unharmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were just going to the tire shop to pick up a tire and nothing more.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Thirty minutes later, another execution- style killing. A worker in an electrical store shot multiple times at close range. Neighbors are afraid to talk about what they know and fear the murderers will come after them.
I asked this man if he heard anything.