The Mexican Drug War - a sustained, violent conflict between powerful drug cartels and the Mexican government - has claimed an estimated 164,000 lives over the past decade. This rampant bloodshed has torn apart cities and communities across Mexico, often taking the lives of the innocent along with those directly involved.

The Mexican cartels (The Sinaloa, Los Zetas, The Gulf Cartel, and the Knights Templar, most notably) and their known drug associates continue to escalate gratuitous acts of retaliation and often record the executions.

