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San Fernando used to be known for its sorghum fields, ranches and trophy white-tailed deer hunting but the town is now known for something much different.

A series of mass graves discovered there last year now makes San Fernando the drug cartel murder capital of Tamaulipas.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) released the latest batch of nationwide drug cartel homicide statistics on Wednesday morning.

According to the new figures, Mexico’s drug war has claimed 12,903 lives between January and September 2011.

The figures included a month by month breakdown for each municipality for drug cartel murders, shootouts and other types incidents.

Some 1,103 drug cartel homicides took place in Tamaulipas while another 1,133 took place in neighboring Nuevo Leon and 520 in Veracruz.

San Fernando

San Fernando stood out among the 43 municipalities in Tamaulipas.

Located some 90 miles south of Brownsville, San Fernando had the most drug cartel-related homicides in Tamaulipas with 292 deaths reported.

Close to 200 of those deaths were reported in April 2011 when authorities uncovered a series of mass graves.

Mexican authorities have made dozens of arrests but only a couple dozen of the victims have been identified.

The American Consulate in Matamoros had issued warnings about carjackings and the hijacking of passenger buses in the area of San Fernando.

Officials recently launched a public works campaign to clean up the town's image.

Border Cities

With the exception of port battleground of Tampico, the highest numbers of drug cartel homicides took place in cities along the border with Texas.

Nuevo Laredo led the Tamaulipas border cities with 144 homicides followed by tiny Valle Hermoso just south of Harlingen with 95 deaths.

Matamoros had 72 homicides while Reynosa had 51 drug cartel-related deaths.

The drug cartel battleground across the border from Starr County, Texas was also covered in blood.

Some 50 homicides were reported Ciudad Mier where almost all the town’s residents had to flee drug cartel violence back in November 2010.

Another 35 homicides were reported across Falcon Lake in Guerrero while 23 were reported across the border from Roma in Miguel Aleman.

According to the figures, there were 14 drug cartel homicides across the border from Donna in Rio Bravo.

Some 11 deaths were reported across the border from La Joya and Sullivan City in Diaz Ordaz.

Only five drug cartel homicides were reported across the border from Rio Grande City in Camargo.

Other Cities

According to the PGR figures, 13 out of the 43 municipalities in Tamaulipas did not have any reports of drug cartel-related homicides.

But there were surprisingly high numbers in rural municipalities of Hidalgo, Padilla, Abasolo, Gonzalez, Casas, Jimenez and Villagran.

Those cities are all located on major roadways or highways linking Tamaulipas with other states. 

The port cities of Tampico, Ciudad Madero and Altamira all drew high numbers.

The Tamaulipas capital of Ciudad Victoria had some 47 drug cartel homicides between January and September 2011.

In their statement, PGR officials vowed to continue the war against drug cartels.