Kidnappings are big business in Mexico and the number of people being abducted is astonishing.

Last year, the country averaged 900 kidnappings per day - that's about one kidnap victim every 90 seconds.

Many Mexicans complain that the police are part of the problem, not the solution.

In the first part of a special series, Al Jazeera's Franc Contreras looks at how Mexicans are coping in such a state of insecurity.