Evidence of the Threat Posed by Extortion

News from Chihuahua, from Excélsior this morning:

Early this Wednesday morning armed men set a trailer on fire with a molotov cocktail, in another incident related to the extortion fees demanded by criminal bands.

Yesterday there were two arson attacks against businesses, when commandos set a restaurant on fire in the capital of the state and other businesses in the food market were also attacked in Ciudad Juárez.

A hamburger business in Chihuahua City, which had closed because of extortion, was completely consumed by the flames.

I don't think anyone the US has paid enough attention to how relying on extortion rather than just drug trafficking changes things. Nor, for that matter, has the crime received enough attention from the Mexican government for most of the past several years, although the lack of interest hasn't been so dramatic. Of course, the Casino Royale attack will probably change all that.