Killings, kidnappings, and drug cartel violence in Mexico has shown no signs of slowing down. However, one of the latest responses to the violence, one that has been well-documented by news media in recent years is the rise of vigilante groups in violence-plagued regions of the nation.

Globalpost.com reports, "vigilantes are rising after the Mexican government failed to stop the country from becoming a world kidnap capital, with more than 1,600 reported abductions in 2013, the worst year on record. There have been more than 70,000 cartel-related killings since 2006."
The article also states that armed vigilante groups, such as the Pedro Mendez Column operating in Hidalgo, Mexico, are getting closer to the U.S., Mexico border, near Texas. The group's aim is to wipe out cartel violence in their town, especially from the likes of the Zetas drug cartel.
"The column only kills kidnappers and drug traffickers. They don't allow extortion or threaten honest people," Jesus Manuel Guerrero, the town's mayor and a victim of drug gang extortion told the GlobalPost.

Anti-drug gang vigilante groups, while a source of frustration for the government because they include armed civilians who operate outside of the law, may be improving the quality of life in some areas, as the article suggests. Drug violence as a whole doesn't look to be declining any time soon since the Mexican drug industry continues to be one of the most productive and far-reaching in the world.

The Center for Foreign Relations explains the power of the Mexcan drug economy: "Today, Mexico is a major supplier of heroin to the U.S. market, and the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine and marijuana. Mexican production of all three of these drugs has increased since 2005, as has the amount of drugs seized at the southwest border, according to the U.S. Department of Justice."

"More than 90 percent of cocaine now travels through Mexico into the United States, up from 77 percent in 2003. Officials estimate that the drug trade makes up 3 to 4 percent of Mexico's $1.2 trillion annual GDP-totaling as much as $30 billion-and employs at least half a million people."