‘If Monterrey is lost, all is lost’

As Mexico’s wealthiest urban area, Monterrey is a symbol of the country’s aspirations, with a well-educated workforce, leading universities and a per capita income twice the national average. But the city has also become a front in Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s U.S.-backed drug war, and its future is clouded by lawlessness.

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Federal police stand guard at the site of a gunfight in a working-class neighborhood in Monterrey, Mexico. Federal forces conducted an operation early Feb. 22 against organized crime that left three alleged hitmen dead and five more detained, according to local media.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Police tape lies on the ground at a crime scene in San Nicolas de los Garza, outside Monterrey. Gunmen killed Luis Cortes Ochoa, former undersecretary of public security of the wealthy municipality of San Pedro Garza, in a drive-by shooting, according to local media.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

A forensic team inspects a bullet-riddled truck at a crime scene in the municipality of San Nicolas de los Garza, a suburb of Monterrey. Homicides in Monterrey and the surrounding state of Nuevo Leon more than tripled in 2010, to 828, according to state prosecutors.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Residents look at a police station attacked by gunmen in the Monterrey suburb of Guadalupe, neighboring Monterrey. Assailants shot several rounds against the facade of a police station and threw a grenade, according to local media, but no injures were reported.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Soldiers chat next to the body of a gunman at a crime scene in Garcia, outside Monterrey. Gunmen tried to kill Garcia Mayor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon in a drive-by shooting, but bodyguards repelled the attack, leaving at least three gunmen dead and two detained, according to local media.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Firefighters extinguish burning patrol cars at a police station in the Monterrey suburb of Guadalupe after an attack. January's tally of 144 killings was the highest on record for Monterrey and the surrounding state of Nuevo Leon.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Soldiers walk past investigative police at a crime scene in the Monterrey suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza, where gunmen killed Luis Cortes Ochoa, former undersecretary of public security of the wealthy municipality of San Pedro Garza, in a drive-by shooting. Business journals once ranked Monterrey as Latin America's safest city.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

A resident talks to a soldier after an attack on a police checkpoint in Monterrey. Assailants threw a grenade at the checkpoint, injuring a civilian, according to local media. President Felipe Calderon has announced that he will send four additional army battalions to Monterrey and the border region.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Police stand guard near a police checkpoint after being attacked in Monterrey. The qualities that made Monterrey appealing to foreign investors -- good schools, exclusive neighborhoods, upscale restaurants -- also made it attractive to bosses of the Gulf drug cartel and its main rival, Los Zetas. The two mafias are now locked in a vicious competition.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Members of a forensic team carry the body of an alleged hitman at a crime scene in Garcia, on the outskirts of Monterrey. Soldiers killed two alleged hitmen who shot at them when trying to escape after a car chase March 1, according to local media.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

A municipal police officer receives a cup before taking part in a drug test at headquarters in the Monterrey suburb of Guadalupe. Some 550 police officers will take part in the test after two were detained by soldiers in February on suspicion of being linked to organized crime, according to local media.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

Municipal police officers wait in line for a drug test at police headquarters in Guadalupe, a suburb of Monterrey. Top state officials say they have a comprehensive plan to boost social spending, reform the judicial system and purge the police of corrupt officers. Salaries for starting officers will be nearly doubled, from roughly $600 a month to $1,100 a month, Lt. Gov. Javier Trevino said.

TOMAS BRAVO / REUTERS

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