Thing no one seems to remember is that this goes on every so many years in mexico...yeah, you have times of calm (when there is a clear drug leader...
80's...think of the times of Rafael Caro Quintero (calm for many years till the death of Enrique Camarena)..
90's think when Amado Carrillo "El Señor de Los Cielos" (calm up to his death and then violent drug war)...
00's...think Chapo Guzman...all calm then they go kill his son and all hell breaks loose...
Again, as soon as a clear leader emerges, things will go back to normal...
Some interesting reading material:
1. Down by the River : Drugs, Money, Murder, and Family by Charles Bowden
2. Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge--An American Parable by Gary Cartwright
Again, these books deal with the Juarez drug wars and they are talking about stories from 10 - 20 years ago...