He's a story about a really nice guy I mountain biked with in Jamacia. Ken was murdered while traveling to buy land for a mountain bike park in a formally peaceful area of Mexico. The comments are most interesting, the locals post that it's been bad for months but nobody outside had much of an idea how bad it had become:
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/0...-coahuila.html
The problem with Mexico is the situation is very dynamic. Regions shift from peaceful to full out drug war in a matter of days. If you're not a local it's easy to stumble into a dangerous situation that can result in death. Check out this website for updates in English (the stories and photos are very graphic):
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/