How do you restore a society gone so far wrong?

A story in the LA Times tells of a 'hit' on the members of a Mexican Marine's family after the Marine was involved in the take down of Mexico's most notorious drug lord. The marine was killed in the same battle that took down the drug lord. At his funeral, the marine's mother was presented the Mexican flag. Hours later, she was dead along with 2 other relatives. This is assumed to be a 'hit' on the family members.

What I don't understand is the kind of people who become 'drug lords'. Did these guys (I believe they are almost all men) grow up in poverty, get caught up in the money and then throw away all sense of humanity? My understanding is that these guys are ruthless and have no rules other than 'the strong survive'.

How do you stop people from growing up to be drug dealers or worse?

How do you stop drug lords from becoming so powerful and corrupting the society in which they live?

How do you stop the entire society from going turning into total anarchy?

I have no answers for this huge problem. I know the US "War on Drugs' has nothing to help as drug use is up and is even more pervasive. The only people making money from the war on drugs are the 'for profit' prisons in the US.