It's been more than a decade since the Mexican government launched a crackdown on drugs, but violence is still rife on the streets.
Deaths and injuries often go unreported for fear of retribution from the local cartels. Meanwhile government forces are accused of human rights abuses as the death toll rises each year.
In the city of Reynosa, near the US border, more than 90 per cent of residents feel unsafe.
Simon Morton talks to journalist David Agren in Reynosa.