Though he’d never been the victim of violence, or even received a credible threat of violence against him, the prominent Nogales, Sonora, businessman felt increasingly uneasy in his hometown.

He’d heard of other local businessmen being targeted for extortion or kidnapping, and wondered if he might be next. And with drug-related violence surging to unprecedented levels in the border city, he worried that his children, who frequent local bars and restaurants, would end up “in the wrong restaurant at the wrong time.â€