This is what all the fighting is about in Nuevo Laredo

Here's a picturesque view of the bridge crossing the Rio Grande from Laredo to Nuevo Laredo from November's National Geographic magazine, taken by Austin photographer Penny De Los Santos, who's celebrating her NG feature at a Happy Hour this Friday. (Great shot!)

This is what all the fighting is about between rival drug cartels in Nuevo Laredo: Control of smuggling across this short stretch of road and through the depicted checkpoints.

The US side of the Texas-Mexico border is actually much safer than living in, say, Houston or Dallas, but on the Mexican side all hell is breaking loose. Even so, they probably wouldn't be fighting if either a) the United States dramatically reduced its demand for illicit drugs, or b) the guards in the red-covered stalls on the US side were effectively stopping drug traffic.

Thanks to Andrea for turning me onto De los Santos' pics, and to Penny for her permission to use this one.