In 2011 and 2012, during the Mexican drug war, hundreds of people were killed in massacres by rival drug cartels who were fighting for power and territory. These organized-crime syndicates were grappling for control over the drug corridors to the United States, the drug markets in local cities, extortion rackets, and human smuggling. Massacres occurred in the states of Veracruz, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León.
