What is the cause of the drug related violence in Mexico?
In recent years, however, the disruption and fragmentation of organized crime networks —notably, the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel, the Matamoros-based Gulf cartel, and the Culiacán-based Sinaloa cartel— has led to increased infighting and competition for control over previously-established drug routes and territories (or “plazas”). New contenders for control include the Beltran Leyva organization and a series of small-time organizations, such as the “La Familia” organization in Michoacán. These groups are arguably smaller, but —by virtue of their unpredictability, their lack of hierarchical structure, and the frenzied competitiveness that has resulted from their proliferation— they are also far less “manageable” than the government would like. Moreover, there is no end in sight. Drug-related violence has abated significantly in some parts of Mexico, but remains extreme in several of the key states noted earlier. While violence has tended to surge and decline periodically in rece
