re: #32 Obdicut
This is only anecdotal… I typed in Phoenix

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A bloody war between Mexican drug cartels is no longer solely a south-of-the-border problem, members of Congress said Tuesday at a hearing on the issue.

The violence accompanying those battles has crept into the United States, and is believed to be largely fueled by money and guns from America, said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

“The drugs are coming north, and we’re sending money and guns south,” said Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs. “As a result, these cartels have gained extraordinary power.”

About 90 percent of guns seized in Mexican raids are traced back to the United States, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said. About 2,000 firearms cross the border into Mexico daily, according to the Brookings Institution, he added.

The subcommittee held a joint hearing Tuesday on the issue with the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. The hearing focused on ways the United States can assist Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s efforts to combat drugs and violence.

In addition, American communities are seeing an increase in violent crimes related to the Mexican drug trade. In Phoenix, Arizona, in 2008, 366 kidnappings for ransom were reported — more than in any other U.S. city, Durbin said, citing federal statistics. The vast majority of those, he said, were related to Mexican drug cartels.

I’m just saying the cure for this problem is going to be tough as hell, and is going to inconvenience the hell out of a lot of people… and they will be mostly Mexican.