Crime in Mexico

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Police investigate a murder scene in Hermosillo.

The mafia arson attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey killed at least 52 people in 2011.

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 trafficking has led to corruption, which has had a deleterious effect on Mexico's Federal Representative Republic. Drug trafficking and organized crime have been a major source of violent crime. Drug cartels and gangs have also branched out to conduct alternative illegal activities for profit, including sex trafficking in Mexico.^[1][2][3][4] Some of the most increasingly violent states in Mexico in 2020 included Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Jalisco, and Querétaro. 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. The state of Zacatecas is said to be valuable to multiple organized crime groups (including the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG) for drug trafficking, specifically methamphetamine to the United States. 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. CJNG is also currently battling the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in the North Mexican region of Sonora.

Mexico has experienced increasingly high crime rates, especially in major urban centers. The country's great economic polarization has stimulated criminal activity mainly in the lower socioeconomic strata, which include the majority of the country's population. 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.^[5] Other metropolitan areas have lower, yet still serious, levels of crime. Low apprehension and conviction rates contribute to the high crime rate. Since many crimes go unreported, the rates may be much higher than reported by the government.^[6] The murder rate in 2023 was 23.3 per 100,000.^[7] Most of the crime is committed by a small proportion of the population involved in the drug trade with about half of murders drug related.^[8]

Assault and theft make up the vast majority of crimes. While urban areas tend to have higher crime rates, as is typical in most countries, the United States–Mexico border has also been a problematic area. In 2017, Mexico witnessed a record number of murders with 29,158 homicides recorded.^[9]

Mexico is Latin America's most dangerous country for journalists according to the Global Criminality Index 2016. Many of these crimes go unpunished, which has led to campaigns in the press and demonstrations highlighting the supposed 'impunity' of those responsible for murdering investigative journalists.^[10]