On the night of Nov. 4, a Learjet carrying Government Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño and José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a former deputy prosecutor general, crashed in the middle of rush-hour traffic in an upscale neighborhood of Mexico City, killing all eight on board, many on the ground, and injuring dozens of others driving along the busy roadway. Authorities insist the crash was an accident, but rumors persist it was part of the drug cartels' murderous campaign against Mexico's security forces.

"The federal government, under my charge, in coordination with the relevant institutions, will carry out all necessary investigations in order to check in-depth what caused this tragedy," said President Felipe Calderón in a televised speech after the crash. (CSM, Nov. 6)

See our last posts on Mexico's narco wars.