7 yıl önce

Drug cartel violence forces Mexican citizens to take up arms

Vigilante groups have fought with the drug gangs in Mexico's Guerrero state to protect their families and businesses.

Staff Reporter

TRT World and Agencies

Armed residents take part in a march on the first anniversary of the citizen's vigilante groups, in Ayutla de los Libres in Guerrero, Mexico on January 5, 2014. (File photo)

Fed up with the lack of security provided by the police, and attacks from several drug cartels and criminal gangs, people in Southern Mexico began to form their own self-defence groups to fight against the criminals.

Guerrero state of Mexico has been long the battleground for the cartels who fight for control of drug trafficking routes and extort money from the mine owners.

Men from eight towns around the high sierras of the state have created a new vigilante group to protect their families and the mines amid policing challenges to respond the drug-related violence.

TRT World's Alasdair Baverstock brings their story from Mexico's Guerrero state.