Drug war victim’s face sewn to football

MEXICO opened the new year with what could be its most dubious distinction yet in the three-year-old battle against drug trafficking – 69 murders in one day.

The country resembled a grim, statistical dart board as law enforcement reported the deaths from various regions – 26 in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, 13 in and around Mexico City and 10 in the northern city of Chihuahua.

More than 6,500 drug-related killings made 2009 the bloodiest year since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels in late 2006, and deployed 45,000 soldiers to fight organised crime, according to death tallies by San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute.