The jurisdiction of the Federal Judicial Police encompassed the entire nation and was divided into thirteen zones with fifty-two smaller detachment headquarters.
One of the smaller law enforcement agencies in Mexico, the Federal Judicial Police tripled in size by increasing from 500 personnel in 1982, to over 1,500 in 1984.
In 1988 an assistant attorney general's office for investigating and combating drug trafficking was formed with an additional 1,500 Federal Judicial Police agents.
[1] During the 1980s it was also reported that top officials and police commanders had alliances with the Guadalajara Cartel.
During the war in Chiapas, PJF agents were accused by zapatista POWs that they were tortured and beaten in federal prisons.