US bolsters consulate security in northern Mexico

The new cement wall is 1.6 meters (5.25 ft) high, and was built with 30 pieces of three tonnes each, said worker Jose Luis Vasconcelos.

Gunmen attacked the US consulate in Monterrey, Mexico\'s third largest city, in October 2008. One man fired at the office while another lofted a grenade that did not detonate. There were no injuries.

After that incident, the first wall was built, and authorities arrested two suspects who were members of the Zetas drug cartel.

In late 2010, an explosion took place just 200 meters (yards) from the consulate.

Two other US consulates on the Mexican side of the shared border were temporarily closed last year. Security concerns forced the office in Ciudad Juarez to close for several days, while another in Nuevo Laredo was closed after an explosive device attack.

Also on Monday, unidentified attackers threw an explosive device into the back of gambling house Casino Revolucion that left one person wounded by shrapnel and two vehicles damaged, one of them burned.

About 150 people were evacuated.

Northern Mexico is the hardest hit region in the country\'s raging drug war which is blamed for most of the 34,600 killings that have been carried out since the federal government launched a massive national crackdown in late 2006.

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