Hundreds of campesinos in municipalities of Mexico's southern Guerrero state, including Ayutla de los Libres, Tecoanapa, Florencio Villarreal, Cuautepec and San Marcos, have taken up arms to defend themselves from a drug-trafficking gang that has been terrorizing residents and demanding protection payments. Armed with pistols and shotguns, the "Community Police" self-defense patrols have been setting up checkpoints at the entrances to their villages, and in one case secured the release of a Tecoanapa resident who had been kidnapped. A total of some 40 suspected narco-gunmen have been detained by the self-defense patrols, and await trial by community assemblies. Residents claim legitimacy for the system of justice under the principle of "uses and customs," by which traditional self-government of indigenous territories is permitted in Mexico's constitution.

Ayutla's Mayor Severo Castro Godínez says he hopes his town's 800-strong Community Police force will prove a temporary measure, and emphasizes that he cannot officially support it. Authorities say Guerrero's Costa Chica region is the turf of a gang known as Los Pelones, local enforceers for the Beltran Leyva Organization. (RPP, Jan. 20; Milenio, Jan. 13; EFE, Jan. 12)