It's the summer of 2009, and Michoacan is in the spotlight once again. Since late May, federal authorities have conducted raids aimed at quelling La Familia's growing political clout, even rounding up 10 mayors and other civil servants in one cross-state sweep. The state governor's half-brother is believed not only to be linked to La Familia, but to be running part of the show. Dozens of high-ranking members of La Familia have been arrested, too -- but that has only spurred serious repercussions. In mid-July, for instance, 12 federal police officers were kidnapped and killed, prompting the deployment of 2,500 more soldiers to the central western state. In the ensuing weeks, dozens more members of La Familia have been nabbed, including Miguel Angel Berraza Villa, a.k.a., La Troca. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration heralded the arrest of Berraza Villa and one of his associates as glowing proof of "the leadership and resolve of President Calderon and the Government of Mexico."
Perhaps, but the rapid, stealthy rise of La Familia is also proof that even if there is the will, there may not be a way. The war on drugs is failing. Michoacan, for the Calderon administration, was supposed to be the decisive first victory. Unlike Juarez and Culiacan, cities where the drug trade was so entrenched in society that few didn't a expect a years-long standoff between the feds and the narcos, Michoacan was a place where the authorities thought they could quickly wipe the slate clean. But instead, they somehow allowed La Familia to establish roots and grow -- right under their noses. "They were honestly surprised," says one U.S. counter-drug official, of the government's reaction to the recent show of force by La Familia.
