Disappearances Rise on Mexico’s ‘Highway of Death’ to Border

Disappearances Rise on Mexico’s ‘Highway of Death’ to Border
Family of Ricardo Valdes, who disappeared on the road on May 25, placed missing posters during a protest in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico, on June 24, 2021. Roberto Martinez/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

MEXICO CITY—As many as 50 people are missing after setting out on three-hour car trips this year between Mexico’s industrial hub of Monterrey and the border city of Nuevo Laredo on a well-traveled stretch of road local media have dubbed “the highway of death.”

Relatives say family members simply vanished. The disappearances, and last week’s shooting of 15 apparently innocent bystanders in Reynosa, suggest Mexico is returning to the dark days of the 2006-2012 drug war when cartel gunmen often targeted the general public as well as one another.