morning at 10:00 a.m. we'll thank you for watching al jazeera america. "fault lines" next and you can check us out 24 hours a day at www.aljazeera.com. >> a group of armed vigilantes is trading machine gun fire with members of the knights templar cartel until early this year, the town of nueva italia in mexico's western state of michoacan was under the control of the cartel

but after more than a decade of fear, something changed these men armed themselves, and town-by-town, they began to drive the cartel out. they call themselves autodefensas, or self-defense forces. their leaders claim that 20,000 have joined the armed movement. their advance has been welcomed by many, but it's also plunged this state into a new kind of lawlessness. >> we've just arrived to michoacán and we've heard that four heads have been discovered on the steps leading to this church here in this small town of zacan. >> it's a gruesome warning from the templars, as the autodefensas approach this town from the south the bodies were taken away by authorities before we arrived. but people here tell me they expect little more from the

investigation. in mexico, it's estimated 98 percent of crimes go unpunished. failed by the state, the vigilants say they've been left with no choice but to start a war >> we're here in los reyes to meet a wealthy avocado farmer called paco. he left his orchards four months ago to coordinate vigilantes on the northern front, and i wanted to know why.

>> many of the leaders of the autodefensa groups are businessmen like paco - they own big lime or avocado plantations. others are field workers or returning migrants. some of them are even professional mercenaries. we followed paco's group as they patrolled the area around los reyes. it was immediately clear how much authority they'd gained here. >> on the road, they forced this state prison van to stop... >> they believe that some state employees have been trying to get templars out of the town, so that's why they stopped this car.

>> the policemen put up no resistance... >> they were cleared to drive on, but the power dynamic was obvious these sorts of scenes are going on all across michoacan because for years, government authorities have protected and aided cartel members. the templars have made huge profits through drug trafficking and extortion, and used part of that money to pay off security forces.

everyone had to pay >> and if you didn't pay? >> israel's nephew was one of the men found beheaded in zacan, and their 26-year-old son was recently kidnapped. they now believe he is dead too.

>> over the last year, the fight for michoacan has only sporadically broken out into actual battle. in truth it's more of a hunt with many of the knights templar in hiding, a search is underway for local bosses and their hitmen. francisco is only 15, and joined just a week ago. he told us his cousin was kidnapped, raped... and then murdered by the cartel. her body was found in trash bags by a river.

>> as they've taken over security operations from local police, the autodefensas have basically created their own justice system. we've just been told a cicario - or assassin - has been captured in los reyes >> 21-year-old jose eduardo was being held at a drug rehab clinic that had been turned into makeshift prison. as we sat down to talk to him, the autodefensas stayed to watch over our shoulders. >> and the only thing you did was work as an informant, or you did something else?

>> we interviewed him for an hour - and his story didn't change.

>> today... israel is burying his nephew. along with the others beheaded in zacan. paco's team has agreed to escort the funeral procession - the cemetery is in an area still controlled by the templars. michoacan now has the second highest homicide rate in mexico. almost 300 people are murdered here every month. this is a scene repeated over and over, day after day. as they expected - the families here hadn't heard from the authorities - there was no active investigation into the killings.

with no one to turn to, they said, the vigilantes have given them hope. >> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >>america tonight investigates a controverseal addition treatment. it could be a life saver... >>the reset button has been hit what is this teach us about the brain? >> can ibogaine cure heroin

addiction? only on al jazeera america

>> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> start your day with in depth coverage from across the country and around the world. >> the future looks uncertain... >> real news keeping you up to date. >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >> when the autodefensa movement started taking control of towns from the knights templar cartel, it was an embarrassment for the mexican government. the country's president peña nieto is under intense pressure to resolve the crisis. he has deployed more than 9,000 soldiers and federal police to the state to try to regain control. but given the level of mistrust of the government that exists in michoacan, they're having to tread carefully.

>> at the army's new base of operations in coalcoman, we spoke with general hernandez. >> basically, it's like all the local police here have just been sent to reform school - a move designed to sever their connections to organized crime meanwhile, the federal government has just done something even more surprising: they've made the controversial decision to legalize the militias, turning them into what they call rural defense forces - a sub-unit of the army.

>> but to join the rural guard, and keep their weapons, the autodefensas have to register with the government - in mexico citizens can't legally carry anything more powerful than a hunting rifle. >> how is the government and the military going to regulate weapons when the self-defense groups have weapons like m-16s? is that authorized? i mean, can they have an m-16?

>> it sounds good, but most vigilantes we met were suspicious of government control and don't plan to register. others have criminal records that will disqualify them. >> many of these men say they won't lay down their weapons, so what are you going to do about it? >> but this cell-phone video, recorded the day before we spoke to the general, showed how difficult he was finding it to control the self-defense group in coalcoman. the public message: it's all under control, but we seemed to be witnessing just how volatile the situation really was. as we returned to the base in apatzingan, there was big news >> this is the stronghold of the knights templar, and we're hearing that there's about 500

members of the self-defense, the federal police and the military are getting ready to take this town. >> it would be the first big joint action since the government announced the plan to legalize the autodefensas. >> but the federal troops ordered the vigilantes to wait on the edge of town while they went into the city to make arrests. >> the templars taunt them with threats over cb radio >> we've been waiting here for around 5 hours, and something is going on - because these people are just not going to apatzingan, we'll have to wait.

>> frustration over the government's control of the operation is building. >> while the vigilantes were waiting on the outskirts of apatzingan, the message came through that the operation was over - the military and the police had retaken control - without their assistance. in the end they were finally allowed to drive through the town - their part reduced to a symbolic gesture. as we walked through the plaza that night, we were stopped by the family of one of the accused templars. >> who are they saying he is? >> they're saying that he is a mercenary for the cartel, for the templarios. but none of that is true. >> you say that the police is

doing a witch-hunt? they're going after - >> yes! they're just going after whoever. they're taking innocent people here. >> jose manuel mireles, considered to be the founder of the autodefensas, isn't ready to surrender his movement to the very authorities he said failed him. >> the government has made headlines again this morning - a top cartel leader, el chayo, has been killed. but mireles tells me the autodefensas were key to the operation.

>> as the government struggles to prove itself, in towns all over the state, security remains in the hands of vigilantes and as tension between them and the government increases, other problems are starting to emerge as well. >> our current system has gone very far awry... >> there's huge pressure on the police to arrest and find somebody guilty >> i think the system is going to fail a lot of other people. >> you convicted the wrong person >> i find that extraordinarily disappointing... >> to keep me from going to jail, i needed to cooperate. >> the evidence was inaccurate >> they still refuse to test the dna >> somebody can put you in a death chamber >> it's not a joke

>> award winning producer and director joe berlinger exposes the truth. from the inside... >> a justice system run by human beings, can run off the rails. >> some say there's justice for all, but they're not in the system.. >> it shouldn't be easy to just lock somebody up and throw away the key >> it's a nightmarish alternative reality, sometimes you can't win... >> an original investigative series. al jazeera america presents the system with joe beringer

>> we're here in the vortex...

only on al jazeera america >> it's five in the morning...i've come to meet ramona and her family as they head to work in the lime orchards of michoacan. they've had little work in the last few years - they say the knights templar manipulated the market, and to keep the price of limes high...they only allowed the pickers to work a couple of days a week... but even though the templars have gone, ramona's family is still struggling. ironically, it's the profits from these citrus and avocado fields that fund much of the autodefensa movement... producers have gone from paying

thousands of dollars to the templars, to donating the money to the movement on the global market, the price of limes has never been higher. but here - the people at the bottom - the hundreds of field workers picking the fruit - are making less money. >> this community supported the autodefensas when they organized here. >> but now they say they're angry - and that the

autodefensas are essentially protecting local economic interests with private armies. >> for huber...and for his community living on the edges, there is little difference between the templars, the vigilantes, or the government. >> it's been a few weeks, and we've come back to check on paco's team.

>> things aren't going well - one of his men has gone rogue. >> as paco's team moves north, we've heard that the community of taraquato has set up a roadblock and is protesting their advance. >> the two men were too scared

to show their faces on camera, but told us they'd been held for two days. >> down the road, the vigilantes are ready for a fight. >> all of these people are going toward the place where the indigenous community is and they're saying that they're going to unblock this road. >> one of paco's lieutenants - manages to control the situation. they secure a detour on a different road. it's impossible for us to confirm what happened to the two men from taraquato. the autodefensas claim the

community was paid to protest by the templars. but, off camera, they also admitted they had indeed detained the two men, and that one of the vigilantes had, in their own words, been too rough. as we prepare to leave michoacan, trouble is growing for the vigilantes. there are allegations of cartel affiliations and infiltrators, top leaders are fighting, and the government has made new demands to disarm. but still...their advance continues... today they are hoping to convince the indigenous town of cherato to work with them. word has spread that people here are distrustful of the well-funded autodefensa movement and their strategy of moving from town to town.

>> before the rise of the autodefensas, the leaders here in cherato created a community police to protect the town from the cartels but there's a big difference between the movements - here, they defend their town, but they don't go on the offensive, and there are few weapons. >> in an effort to build trust, the autodefensas give the community police some of their bullets.

>> after years of violence and government complicity, the indigenous community in cherato sees a common goal in the idea of self-defense. but the people here are cautious, and fearful of what this new movement might become.

>> welcome to the news hour. the top stories, no more hope, hundreds dead and missing in turkey's worst mine disaster. grief turns to anger. attacking boko haram, the group who kidnap