Sicilia's Impact on Mexico, One Year On

InSight Crime: "Juan Francisco Sicilia, 24, was murdered along with six friends on March 28, 2011, after an altercation in a bar. Members of the South Pacific Cartel were accused of the crime. Within weeks, a host of suspects had been arrested, including the gang’s local leadership and an alleged protector in the police. Following the crack down from the authorities, the South Pacific Cartel faded from prominence not only in Cuernavaca, but throughout the territory they had previously dominated.

However, it was not the fate of the perpetrators but the reaction of Sicilia’s father Javier that turned the episode into a landmark in Mexico’s battle with organized crime. In the months after the killing, the grieving elder Sicilia became the face of victimhood in Mexico." read more