US: A spate of gangland murders has prompted Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco to call in the National Guard to help police New Orleans.
For boutique owners in the city's Garden District, the most worrying crime wave is the work of a gang of marauding transvestites who have lifted thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in broad daylight.
The thieves - a group of African-American men between 6ft and 6ft 5in tall - wear big, flamboyant wigs, midriff shirts and short skirts or pink jumpsuits and high heels, and are fiercely determined shoplifters.
"They're fearless. Once they see something they like, they won't stop until they have it. They don't care, they'll go to jail. It's really gotten bad. You know it's ridiculous when everyone on the block knows who they are," Eric Ogle, a salesman at the Vegas fashion store on Magazine Street told the Associated Press.
Hours after they raided Vegas a few weeks ago, the thieving drag queens returned to the same street and stole more than $2,000 (€1,590) in merchandise from Turncoats.
"They move like clockwork. Two thousand dollars is a lot for our store to lose, especially being in the slow summer season. It makes it so I can't even mark my stuff down as much as I want to because I'm trying to make up for what I lost," said the boutique's manager, Wes Davis.
Once one of the most violent, crime-ridden cities in America, New Orleans enjoyed a brief honeymoon from crime after Hurricane Katrina. In recent months, however, drug-related crime, including shootings, have returned to pre-hurricane levels.
The city's police force, still reduced in numbers, has struggled to cope with the crime wave and the presence of National Guard soldiers is designed to free up police officers to deal with serious crime.
The boutiques on Magazine Street have created their own watchdog system unofficially known as the "Drag Queen Alert List", a phone roster of every business on the block with stars next to those whose owners and staff carry guns.
When one shop owner spots a gang member, he or she warns everyone on the block and they respond in unison.
Robyn Lewis, who co-owned a shop called Trashy Diva, said the transvestites could be violent and attacked one of her partners, throwing her to the ground and hurling a heavy mannequin on top of her.
"They're kind of confused because they think they're women so they don't mind hitting women, but they're dudes. If you get hit by one, it's like getting hit by a dude."
