Collateral Damage: Armoured car sales jump as drug war batters Mexico | World | News | Toronto Sun

While fear is good for the armoured car business, the collateral damage is ponted out by the final comment, “When the state fails to fulfill a function, ordinary people have to find their own alternatives." 

Armoured car sales jump as drug war batters Mexico Toronto Sun: "Armoured cars and body armor in Mexico are no longer exclusively for government officials, foreign executives and the super rich, as a raging drug war spreads across the country, leading to a spike in orders.

Sales of armoured vehicles rose 20 percent this year, the bloodiest in the government’s four-year fight against the cartels, to 1,900 units, according to the Mexican Armored Car Association. ...

“A couple of years ago (armoured cars) were for wealthy businessmen or the powerful families of Mexico. Today the range of clients has grown because ordinary people now feel the same risks,” said Fernando Echeverri, the head of specialist firm Ballistic, who runs (a) garage outfitting cars (with armour).

Authorities say the vast majority of drug-related violence is not directed at ordinary citizens, but high-profile kidnappings and extortions have rattled middle-class citizens. 

“It’s a growing phenomenon,” said Adalberto Santana, an expert on Latin American drug gangs. “When the state fails to fulfill a function, ordinary people have to find their own alternatives." Dec. 29, 2010, Reuters