Mexico ? Much attention is given Mexican drug cartels warring over lucrative transport routes to the U.S. But more and more, they’re battling for an exploding number of Mexican consumers, a market that barely existed a decade ago. While the U.S. is expected to remain the largest and most-coveted market, local consumers are a big and rapidly growing source of cash.

That makes street dealers prime targets for assassins. Low-level sellers are easy prey for rivals seeking to expand turf, because they work openly on street corners without bodyguards or armored cars.

Drug dealers account for many of the 10,800 people killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon began a crackdown on cartels in 2006 — particularly in border cities where the battles are fiercest. In Tijuana, they fill at least 90 percent of the body bags, according to top law enforcement officials.