Forensic personnel load the corpse of a man into a van, after he was executed at a shopping mall in Acapulco, Mexico, on April 24, 2018. A new report recorded more than 33,000 homicides in 2018, making it the country's deadliest on record. Francisco Robles/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Mexican navy members and federal police take part in an operation in Acapulco in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, on Tuesday to disarm local police. Francisco Robles/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Mexican journalist Javier Valdez speaks at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016. He was killed by a gunman on Monday. Hector Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Nayarit state Attorney General Edgar Veytia was arrested on drug trafficking charges at the U.S.-Mexico border this week. Here, the Nayarit state attorney general's headquarters is seen in Tepic, Mexico. Cesar Rodriguez/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Mexican state police stand guard in May 2015 near a shootout between authorities and suspected criminals in Michoacan. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said Thursday that 22 people were arbitrarily killed by federal police during that raid. Refugio Ruiz/AP hide caption
A Mexican soldier stands guard next to marijuana packages in Tijuana following the discovery of a tunnel under the U.S.-Mexico border in 2010. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, spokesman for the Autodefensas, a militia organized against the Knights Templar mob. The Orchard hide caption
The alleged leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Omar Trevino Morales, is taken under custody to be presented to the press at the Attorney General Office's hangar at the airport in Mexico City, on March 4. Mexican authorities captured Trevino Wednesday, dealing a blow to the feared gang and giving the embattled government a second major arrest in a week. Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Armed members of the Self-Defense Council of Michoacan patrol a checkpoint set up by the self-defense group. Eduardo Verdugo/AP hide caption
Pablo Cote holds a photo of his deceased father of the same name in July 2013 in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Cote was kidnapped while driving back from the U.S. border to the east-central state of Tlaxcala. He was beaten to death, part of the mass killing of 193 bus passengers and other travelers by the Zetas. Ivan Pierre Aguirre/AP hide caption
Groups of rural and community police arrive in the city of Iguala on Tuesday to help in the search for 43 students who disappeared after a confrontation with local police on Sept. 26. Miguel Tovar/STF/LatinContent/Getty Images hide caption
Reny Pineda was born in Michoacan, Mexico, but grew up in Los Angeles. In 2010 he returned to his homeland, and joined a vigilante battle against a ruthless cartel ruling the region. Now the Mexican government has ordered the civilian militias to disband, and Pineda picks lemons in this orchard. Alan Ortega /KQED hide caption
Workers sort through key limes at a packaging house in Apatzingan, Michoacan. More than 90 percent of limes imported into the U.S. come from Mexico. Carrie Kahn/NPR hide caption
Sept. 1, 2010: Police stood guard by a truck containing some of the bodies of immigrants killed by members of the Zetas drug cartel in Tamaulipas state. Jorge Dan/Xinhua /Landov hide caption
Griselda Blanco, the "queen of cocaine," in a 2004 photo posted by the Florida Department of Corrections. Fla. Dept. of Corrections hide caption