Under threat of murder by drug cartels, some Mexican police officials are seeking political asylum in the U.S., the Washington Post reported April 20.

That's just one example of the rising toll that Mexico's war on drugs is taking on both sides of the border, including killings of U.S. Border Patrol agents and gunshot victims being dropped at U.S. border crossings by friends hoping to protect them from assassination.

In the once-quiet small town of Puerto Palomas, Mexico, 30 people have been killed this year -- since a crackdown on drug trafficking in nearby Cuidad Juarez -- and the violence is spilling over to neighboring Luna County, N.M. The population of Puerto Palomas has fallen from 12,000 to 7,500, and tourists have stopped visiting. Recently, the entire police force resigned, and the police chief sought asylum in the U.S.

"Mexico's problem is Sheriff Cobos's problem," said Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos. "No doubt about it."

Cobos expects more Mexican police to seek refuge in the U.S., but worries that any who settle in his jurisdiction would be magnets for violent criminals from across the border. "I don't want you around," is his welcome message to his law-enforcement colleagues considering fleeing from Mexico.