• Over 12,000 people died in drug-related violence in 2011 in Mexico, and about 50,000 have been killed since the start of President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on drug gangs in 2006.

  • Reports  came out as brutal violence continued to rock parts of Mexico amid a military crackdown on organised crime involving tens of thousands of troops.

  • Reforma daily counted 12,539 drug-related killings in 2011, which it said was a 6.3 per cent increase on the previous year. 

  • It said the violence had become more brutal with increases in beheadings to almost 600 and more than 1,000 cases of torture.

  • The daily Milenio newspaper recorded 12,284 drug-related deaths in 2011 and underlined major hikes in killings.
 
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