Mexico's Growing Vigilante Movement

Mexico's Vigilante Groups Are a Force to Reckon with for Drug Cartels and Army

by TRNN

The Mexican Federal Government negotiated a deal with the "Autodefensas", or community militias, as they fight to loosen the drug cartel's monopoly on power and violence in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

In Michoacán, Mexico, the federal government reported on Monday, January 27, that it had reached an agreement to incorporate the local community militias called "Autodefensas" or "self defenses" into quasi-military units called defense corps.The militias have fought for over a year to seize control of the state from the hands of a violent criminal gang called "La Caballeros Templarios" or "Templar Knights" that has held power for the last 4 years. The gang has been reported to make as much as $74.6 million a year through drug trafficking and extortion rings.