Thousands march against drug violence in northern Mexico

Xinhua

BEIJING, March 6(Xinhuanet)-- Some 5,000 protestors on Sunday took to the streets of a northern Mexican city, demanding government actions to end drug violence on the northern border region with the United States.

The protestors, marching down the streets of Monterrey, an industrial city in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, carried signs saying "enough" and "we don't want narcos," the local term for drug smugglers.

Artists, athletes, public servants, political leaders and members of civil groups were among the protestors. They rallied in front of the Nuevo Leon Palace of Government and demanded measures by federal and regional authorities to end drug-related violence.

Nuevo Leon is among the hardest-affected states in Mexico by organized crime in drug trafficking. Waves of clashes between rival drug gangs has made northern Mexico a bloody battlefield.

Some 300 people were killed every year, as they fight for control of lucrative cocaine and heroin smuggling routes, said the protestors.