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It's hard for an outsider to understand the pace of change in Karachi, Pakistan, these days. Statistics don't really do it justice. Over the past decade, millions of Pakistanis have fled the fighting and terrorism in their country's northwest to settle in Karachi, Pakistan's pulsing commercial heart. But the flood of migrants in search of jobs and opportunity has also brought Karachi some less savory additions. Gangs tied to political parties have long operated in the poorer parts of the city, running extortion rings and land-grab schemes. Pitched firefights that go on for days between gangs, or between gangs and the police, are not uncommon. As a result, Karachi is far and away the world's most dangerous megacity, with a homicide rate of 12.3 per 100,000 residents. Now added to this combustible mix are drug gangs often with links to Iran. And they've brought with them a new commodity that is increasingly making its way from Karachi's ports to the wider world: methamphetamine. Adapted from the source document.