Daniel Arizmendi, alias "El Mochaorejas" (ear cutter)

“Organized crime in Mexico today did not form itself in a vacuum, its structure originates from the police and security forces of the Mexican State. That is why this drug war is so bloody and extends to all levels of government and society.

Over the past 30 years, corruption, impunity and the political and discretionary application of justice converted every police officer and every public safety agency into a criminal entity. Whether willing or otherwise, every Mexican police officer, every ministerial (investigative) official, to survive as such, had to break the law and abide by the codes of special privileges granted by the ruling political power, the PRI.

Police were segregated from society and their use in an ideology of political and social repression led to corruption. The political class for decades, and clearly after 1968 and 1971, found in this corruption a vein of gold and overindulged itself on it. The use of laws, rules and regulations for the purpose of extortion was institutionalized.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/08/roots-of-organized-crime.html