Several parents in the small town where I live had kids who were living in Mexico a few years back. The kids were arrested, probably rightfully so on marijuana charges, and jailed. It took the parents two or more years and thousands of dollars in bribes to get the kids out of jail on bail. Corruption wasn't the word. They held raffles, begged, borrowed, and God knows what else, yes, got congressmen and senators involved, although what good Fat Teddy and Kerry did, I can't imagine. Finally, the kids were released, but it was a horror show, and I'll bet they'll never go anywhere near Mexico again.
They were lucky --- one kid who attended high school here -- not an American kid but the family was living here -- got involved in the drug trade in Mexico and his was one of the 13 bodies dug up buried under some backyard patio in Juarez --- those guys were tortured severely and killed by the police over there working for the competing cartel.