Crime in Mexico
Crime is one of the most urgent concerns facing Mexico, as Mexican drug trafficking rings play a major role in the flow of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana transiting between Latin America and the United States.
Drug cartels and gangs have also branched out to conduct alternative illegal activities for profit, including sex trafficking in Mexico.
Some of the world's most violent cities are reportedly within the state of Guanajuato with extortion from criminal groups (such as CSRL and CJNG) now being commonplace.
As of 2021, Michoacán is experiencing increased instances of extortion and kidnapping due to a growing presence and escalation in the armed conflicts between CJNG and Cárteles Unidos on regions bordering the neighboring state of Jalisco.
Crime is increasing at high levels, and is repeatedly marked by violence, especially in the cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, and the states of Baja California, Durango, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo León.
[19] In 2018, Mexico broke the previous deadliest year record, with Mexican authorities opened 33,341 murder investigations in 2018, the highest number ever.
[24] Mexican drug cartels play a major role in the flow of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transiting between Latin America and the United States.
[27] Some illegal drugs are also produced in Mexico, including significant amounts of opium poppy, and marijuana in the western Sierra Madre Mountains region.
"[27] Mexico has increasingly become a major producer of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs in the North American market (e.g. crystal), especially in the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Jalisco and the Distrito Federal.
[28] Since early 2007, the export of manufactured drugs has been controlled by the Beltran-Leyva brothers (Sonora-Sinaloa-DF) and "la Familia de Michoacán".
These two crime groups have controlled the corridors from the deep sea port of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán, where precursor products to manufacture synthetic drugs are imported from Asia.
[29] Marijuana, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs are increasingly consumed in Mexico, especially by youths in urban areas and northern parts of the country.
Since pay is generally poor (U.S.$285–$400 per month), police officers are more likely to accept bribes to protect criminals or ignore crime entirely.
The problem is especially pronounced in northern border areas such as Tijuana, where police are engaged by drug traffickers to protect and enforce their illicit interests.
[40] The situation has earned attention from prominent global organizations such as the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET).
Amerigo Incalcaterra of the OHCHR advocated the protection of journalists and the preservation of freedom of speech, calling it "essential for the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in this country".
"[46] According to a 1997 study by Kaja Finkler, domestic abuse "is embedded in gender and marital relations fostered in Mexican women's dependence on their spouses for subsistence and for self-esteem, sustained by ideologies of romantic love, by family structure and residential arrangements.
[50] In 2005, journalist Lydia Cacho published a book, Demons of Eden, exposing Mexican politicians and business leaders' large roles in a child sex trade spanning Mexico.
Chela Rivas, a Mexican singer and performer, stated in 2020 that "because of the war with drug cartels, each day it becomes more and more dangerous to ... travel to remote towns and sing.
[citation needed] In June 2005, the government deployed federal forces to three states to contain surging violence linked to organized crime.
At a news conference in Mexico City, presidential spokesman Rubén Aguilar told reporters that the new deployment was the result of evidence that organized crime has penetrated some local police departments.
[citation needed]Tijuana has installed a sophisticated public-security system, but city officials don't seem to know details about how it is funded or the background of the company that supplied it.
[74] President Vicente Fox took power in December 2000 promising to crack down on crime and improve a judicial system rife with corruption and ineptitude.
The two governors stated, "the federal government's inability to control crime and violence related to illegal immigration had forced them to take matters into their own hands".
[78] The U.S. state of Texas and Mexican police officials held a conference in San Antonio to discuss ways of coordinating efforts to stop crime but there are questions about how successful the program will be.
[79] Many Mexican police officials in border towns have been targets of assassination by drug cartels, who have even threatened local law enforcement in the United States.
[81] In June 2004, at least a million people marched through the Mexican capital and other cities to protest the failure of federal and local governments to control crime in one of the world's most crime-ridden countries.
