Mexico
Last updated: 10 September 2024
Security forces stand guard inside Military Camp Number 1 in Mexico City on 21 September 2023 as parents of victims and students of the Ayotzinapa teacher training college demand justice for 43 students who went missing in 2014 while traveling by bus to participate in demonstrations in Mexico City. Photo by CLAUDIO CRUZ/AFP via Getty Images
Mexico’s security landscape is characterized by violent disputes between criminal groups fighting for control over illicit economies. The ensuing political violence, and the burden this places on the civilian population, has resulted in Mexico continually ranking amongst the world’s most extreme conflicts according to the ACLED Conflict Index.
In Focus: Cartel Activity
The current security situation in Mexico can be traced back to the 1980s when criminal groups dedicated to smuggling drugs to the United States started expanding their reach to benefit from the re-orientation of Colombia’s drug trafficking routes from the Caribbean to Mexico. Up until the late 1990s, four main cartels controlled drug trafficking zones in the country, but with time, competition over these illicit economies in the country has shifted, fragmenting Mexico’s gang landscape. Intra- and inter-cartel struggles and attempts by governments to dismantle criminal leaders have led to hundreds of groups vying for control, sometimes forming volatile and shifting alliances. These groups’ economic activities have diversified to include activities like extortion, oil theft, illegal mining, timber contraband, kidnapping and forced disappearances, and human trafficking. This is often carried out in collusion with co-opted or corrupt officials, which has led to an erosion of trust in Mexico’s judicial and executive institutions.
Despite attempts by successive governments to clamp down on the violence fuelled by illicit economies, gangs and cartels continue to pose the greatest threat to public safety and security. Mexico also featured prominently in ACLED’s special series of violence targeting local officials because political figures are often targeted by these criminal groups, particularly around elections, when these groups try to influence the outcome.
Methodology
Explore ACLED’s coding decisions covering cartel and gang violence using our methodology guides:
With a presence in at least 27 states, the CJNG is one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal groups. This actor profile unpacks the data on key trends in CJNG activity since 2018.
Group highlight: Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels. It emerged in 2009 as a splinter group of the Milenio cartel, which started operating as an armed wing of the Sinaloa cartel. With time, it has grown into an independent drug-producing and trafficking organization that supplies global markets.
The cartel poses a significant threat to civilians due to its extreme use of public violence to establish territorial authority. Its use of mass killings, public executions, violent confrontations with security forces, kidnapping, and forced disappearances have terrorized local populations. The group also relies on extortion, human trafficking, illegal mining, and oil theft to bolster its income.
CJNG maintains a strong foothold in its traditional areas of operation in the central western states of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit. The group has sought to expand its operations across the country to gain control over strategic drug trafficking corridors, export-oriented areas, and migration routes. With time, CJNG has expanded its presence across the country, with high levels of activity in Baja California, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz, and Zacatecas states. It has further extended its reach to other countries, defying the Sinaloa cartel’s dominance at home and abroad.
Analysis & Reports
ELECTION WATCH | 21 August 2024
Mexico 2024: Special Election Series
The 2024 Mexico Special Election series explores the drivers of violence targeting political figures at the subnational levels, especially in states with significant levels of such violence.
SPECIAL SERIES | 22 May 2024
Violence Targeting Local Officials
In 2023, close to 2,500 attacks against local government officials were reported in 94 countries around the world. Among those attacked are governors, mayors, village heads, local councilors, local government or election workers, and other officials who are exposed to the use or threat of violence by organized groups and crowds.
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