Vigilante Group in Guerrero Highlands Takes a Stand Against Drug Cartels Alasdair Baverstock - TRT World
go to original July 17, 2017

Violence has spiked in Mexico's Guerrero state over the past decade as a growing number of criminal gangs vie for control of opium poppies. Alasdair Baverstock reports from Tlacotepec, Mexico. (TRT World)

In a region of Mexico that has become the world's third most prolific producer of opium, a wave of violence has engulfed the mountain communities, instigating a fight back from the local communities.

In the remote mountains of Guerrero state, opium poppies are the cash crop, and intense cartel competition to secure the harvest has led to a wave of violence that has displaced entire communities from their ancestral homelands.

Violence has spiked in the state over the past decade as a growing number of criminal gangs vie for control of crops of opium poppies and for drug-trafficking routes.

Related: Methamphetamine Trafficking from Mexico to US Is Exploding (PanAm Post)

Related: Mexico, U.S. Vow to Bolster Joint Fight Against Drug Cartels (Reuters)

Related: US Homeland Security Chief Observes Mexico Poppy Destruction (Associated Press)

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