ABSTRACT
From Thomas Hobbes to John Locke to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosophers have agreed that the most important role of organized society is to ensure the safety of its citizens in their homes, streets, schools, and workplaces. In 2009, Los Zetas demanded $300,000 for the return of a prominent lawyer who lived near Veracruz. After federal, state, and local governments and perhaps WalMart and maquiladoras, Los Zetas represent the major source of employment in states like Tamaulipas. The government euphemistically calls many of its prisons “Centers of Social Readaptation” (CERESOs). Wardens, their subordinates, and guards nominally control these penal institutions, especially the nine high-security federal facilities. Just as in the United States, drugs flow freely inside Mexico’s prison walls. Of the 37,000 inmates in Mexico City’s penal institutions, an estimated 25,900 are addicts.
