Bloody Weekend in Puerto Rico Leaves 19 Dead
The crime wave devastating Puerto Rico left 19 dead over the weekend, police said Monday.
The murders occurred immediately after the Friday visit to San Juan of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Napolitano came to Puerto Rico after the island’s government demanded that Washington impose tougher measures to control the increase in drug trafficking, which authorities here blame for the sharp rise in murders over the past few years.
The secretary acknowledged in San Juan that Puerto Rico is suffering an unacceptable level of violence and said that measures will be taken to control the problem, though she added that no details will be announced so as not to alert the international drug rings operating in the area.
She said that the two interrelated problems plaguing Puerto Rico are drug-trafficking plus money laundering, and the violence inflicted by local criminal outfits.