You are correct in that it may not be martial law as we know it but when you pour a few thousand troops into a city to help control the situation martial law is in effect what you have. jmo.
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/1245213.html
Federal police arrive to patrol Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, last week as part of a government effort to free Mexican citizens from a daily spectacle of assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings ordered by rival drug czars. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/MIGUEL TOVAR