Escalating Drug Cartel Violence in Mexico Claims Vigilante Leader's Life

Drug cartel violence has escalated in Apatzingan, Mexico, following the killing of citizen self-defense leader Hipolito Mora. Cartel gunmen have blocked roads, carjacked a family, and carried out a fatal shooting. The Jalisco cartel's offensive to enter Michoacan has sparked clashes with the rival Viagras cartel, with the front lines now along the Rio Grande. The Mexican government has sent reinforcements to prevent the Jalisco cartel from advancing, but the situation remains unstable. Extortion and protection payments by the cartels are strangling the local economy, and Mora's death has dashed hopes of reviving an armed civilian resistance.