 That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to put an end to drug violence there.This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against cartel operations, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels.As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now well over 25,000 troops involved.