Mexico has landed some hard punches against the drug cartels that have stirred violence in parts of the country -- at least on paper.
In 2011, against just the notorious Zetas cartel, Mexico ended the reign of 16 leaders who ran cartel operations at the state or national level. Thugs with nicknames like "El Piolin," "El Lucky" and "El Amarillo."
But the violence attributed to the Zetas has not decreased even after these busts, and critics wonder if names are meaningless if they are so quickly replaced.
And a majority of Mexico's most-wanted drug traffickers, 22 out of 37, have been put out of commission, but to what benefit? At what cost?
"Mexico has paid an enormous price: almost 50,000 dead, almost $50 billion in additional security costs, ever more numerous human rights violations, (and) a great discrediting of the country to the world," wrote Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister and critic of the current strategy, in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and his backers in the U.S. government, meanwhile, insist that the militarized offensive is paying dividends and that a turning point is close at hand.
Taking stock of the successes and failures of Mexico's drug war means examining a strategy that experts are divided over. It is a strategy that is not static, and there is evidence that the Mexican government is -- if not gaining ground -- at least reshaping the battlefield.
The strategy
The entry of Mexican troops into the drug cartel fight began before Calderon became president. His predecessor, Vicente Fox, launched Operation Safe Mexico in 2005, which sent soldiers and federal police to eight cities in Mexico.
According to Mexican scholar Jorge Chabat, Fox was reluctant to take this step, and tried to limit its scope. (Today, Fox is a critic of the war and advocates the decriminalization of drugs.)
When Calderon took office the following year after a victory by the smallest of margins, he embraced the military approach. Just 11 days after being sworn in, he sent troops to his home state of Michoacan, and in the following months to a number of other states.
As many as 45,000 troops have been deployed throughout the country.
Five years later in January 2012, in a New Year's message to the Mexican people, Calderon admitted that insecurity remains one of the biggest worries for citizens.
"That's why my government has worked with great firmness on this task, and we have done it with a comprehensive vision," he said. "We are combating from the roots a problem that grew during many, many years. We have acted with a firm decision to put a stop to those who hurt Mexicans, honest and hardworking, like I know you and your family are."