Thousands came out in El Monte, California, to mourn the slaying of Augustin Roberto Salcedo in Mexico.

El Monte, California
CNN

Thousands stuffed the bleachers on both sides of a California high school football field Monday night to remember a beloved teacher who was slain in Mexico a few days ago.

Grieving family members, friends and residents of El Monte, California, waved glowsticks in the air and listened to heartfelt stories about how Augustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo was a devoted family man and an inspirational educator. They heard, too, that he was a practical jokester who made people laugh.

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " blared on loudspeakers. And there was a quieter anthem: Salcedo's family sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to honor the die-hard Dodgers fan.

In all, about 4,000 people cheered and wept at once at Monday's candlelight vigil held at Mountain View High School as they grappled with their community's loss.

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Editor's Note: Three members of the family of a Mexican marine who died in a shootout last week were killed Tuesday in the southern state of Tabasco, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said. Michael Ware was in Juarez, Mexico to report on the violence.

Members of the Mexican navy last week guard the complex where Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed.

Mexico City, Mexico
CNN

Three members of the family of a Mexican marine who died in a shootout last week were killed Tuesday in the southern state of Tabasco, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said.

Marine 3rd Petty Officer Melquisedec Angulo Cordova was fatally shot during a gunbattle that resulted in the killing of Arturo Beltran Leyva, one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords. The killing of his family members has raised speculation in Mexico that it was an act of retaliation by the Beltran Leyva's drug cartel, CNN en Español reported.

Very early Tuesday, gunmen entered the family's home and opened fire, killing Angulo Cordova's mother, sister and a third relative, the state-run Notimex news agency reported. Angulo Cordova's brother was injured in the shooting, the agency said.

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Time

Full Blown War...

Over 2000 drug-related murders have been recorded in Mexico this year, vastly outpacing previous years. Many of the most grizzly have gone down in the desert city of Culiacán, where dozens of armed state policemen, along with the Mexican military, have been deployed in a Federal effort to contain the problem.

Go here to keep reading and view more images of Culiacán deadly drug war.

Mariano Castillo
CNN

The rapid thud-thud-thud of military choppers overhead on Wednesday was the first thing to catch the attention of the residents of Cuernavaca, a city south of Mexico City known as a retreat for city-dwellers and tourists alike.

The helicopters landed near Punta Vista Hermosa, a majestic resort where condos sell for millions of Mexican pesos, and before long, seemingly hundreds of military personnel were on its grounds.

A few hours later, a ferocious firefight broke out between the military and a cell of drug traffickers.

"Things like this rarely happen here," said Yadira Abigail Flores Delgado, who works at a nearby private security firm. "I could hear the shots and the helicopters. It was a very ugly incident."

The outcome, however, was sweet for the administration of President Felipe Calderon.

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Program Note: Go inside a sophisticated, newly discovered underground tunnel on the Mexican-U.S. border with Anderson Cooper tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It's an all-too common scene on patrol with a joint Mexican law enforcement task force in Juarez, Mexico.

Two people are shot dead in broad daylight Wednesday in a city lost in a drug war between rival cartels over the lucrative drug route into the United States.

Gunmen fire on a car, killing the driver; the passenger starts to flee and is gunned down in the street. These are the 11th and 12th killings in the Mexican city that day. Locals said killings are more frequent in the evenings. At this point, the sun hasn't even started to go down.

Juarez has become a deadly city where bodies, blood and gun-shell casings are commonplace in the streets.

In 2008, more than 1,600 people were killed in drug-related violence; this year local government officials put that number at more than 2,400. The carnage is taking place in a city with a population of around 1.5 million, literally at America's doorstep. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has declared a war on drug cartels and the way they operate their businesses.

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An uncompleted tunnel measuring 48 feet in the U.S. and 35 feet in Mexico.

California Institute for Federal Policy Research

On July 9, 2009, the Senate passed its version of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill which provides $42.926 billion to the department.

The following is a quick analysis of the bill on how it will impact issues facing California – including the drug violence along the California border with Mexico.

The Committee Report states: “Border tunnels pose a serious national security risk by providing a means for smugglers to move drugs, guns, and people under the border. Since September 11, 2001, more than 90 border tunnels have been discovered.

Go here to read the full report