Leon Panetta (US Sec of Defense) met with his counterparts from Mexico and
Canada yesterday in Toronto. A headline story in the Mexican press (EFE
article from El Diario is posted below) says that Panetta cited a report
from Mexican General Galvan Galvan, Sec. of Defense in Mexico, that 150,000
people had been killed in the war on narcotrafficking. He did not specify
the time span.  There are more comments on the press coverage below from
Frontera List member Jim Creechan from Canada.

Just based on homicide statistics reported by the federal police agencies
in Mexico, I would estimate that the number is now about 109,000 homicides
since 2007.  It is impossible to know at this point what numbers the
Mexican military might be citing and for what time period.  Jim provides
more links in his comment from Mexican and international sources.  I also
posted an article on the meeting from the US Dept of Defense webpage. It
has nothing about numbers….

I agree that it will be interesting to see if this number gets picked up in
more media and cited.  It would seem like one of the major media folks in
Mexico City might be able to get their hands on the same report that
Panetta read…  ??  Molly

Panetta Attends Historic Trilateral Defense Meeting

Guerra vs narco en México ha cobrado 150 mil vidas: EU