Crime in Mexico is one of the most urgent concerns in the country, 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. Some of the most increasingly violent states in Mexico in 2020 included Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Jalisco, and Querétaro. Mexico has some of the world's most violent cities by homicide rate, and in recent years has ranked as the country with the highest number of cities in the top 50 (17 of the top 50 in 2022.) Extortion and fuel theft from criminal groups (such as CSRL and CJNG) are now becoming 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. 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. The murder rate in 2023 was 23.3 per 100,000. Most of the crime is committed by a small proportion of the population involved in the drug trade with about half of murders being drug-related.
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.Is Cancun Safe? 14 Killed in Brutal Crime Spree at Mexican Resort Town Brendan Cole, Newsweek, April 13, 2018
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.
Crime by type All types Crime rates in Mexico per 100,000 inhabitants 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005USA in 2004 2020 FEB Total crimes 1,433.81 1,439.41 1,391.54 1,521.93 1,503.71 1,425.98 4,118.76 NAMurder 14.93 15.13 14.11 13.94 13.04 10.91 5.62 27.9 Murder with firearm 3.45 4.54 3.66 3.53 2.58 3.08 3.12 NAAssault 254.35 257.39 260.39 260.41 251.91 224.17 NA NAAggravated assault 171.06 172.02 185.01 187.33 186.68 162.85 310.14 NARape 11.89 11.9 13.33 13.05 14.26 12.86 32.99 NATheft 148.27 108.11 100.22 116.74 112.47 NA 2445.80 NAAutomobile theft 161.15 161.52 162.10 150.66 139.86 136.47 432.12 113.8 (W/Violence) 100.2 (W/O/Violence)Robbery 316.54 274.63 219.59 158.16 146.57 489.96 145.87 NABurglary 145.72 153.58 142.58 NA NA 20.52 746.22 NAFraud 54.63 50.48 50.96 54.64 61.47 53.67 NA NADrug offenses 20.62 23.97 24.65 23.38 23.40 37.31 NA NA Source: The 7th and 8th, 10th Surveys, United Nations as well as Mexico Crime Report (2020)
Murder
In 2012, Mexico had a murder rate of 21.5 per 100,000 population. There were a total of 26,037 murders in Mexico in 2012. Between 2000 and 2013, 215,000 people in Mexico were murdered. By 2013 there were only 30,800 people incarcerated for murder, showing that many murders go unsolved. In October 2017, Mexico suffered its deadliest month since it started keeping such data in 1997, with 2,371 murder investigations. 2017 was Mexico's deadliest year on record, with 31,174 murders recorded, leading to a murder rate of 25 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, compared with 19.4 in 2011. In May 2018, Mexico broke the previous deadliest month on record set in October with 2,530 reported cases of intentional homicides during the month, or 93 per day. In 2018, Mexico broke the previous deadliest year record, with Mexican authorities opened 33,341 murder investigations in 2018, the highest number ever. However in 2019, homicides were on track to reach 35,000 in 2019 which is even higher than the 2018 year record.
Drug trafficking
The United States is a lucrative market for illegal drugs. The United Nations estimates that nearly 90% of cocaine sold in the United States originates in South America and is smuggled through Mexico. Mexico is the largest foreign supplier of marijuana and the largest source of heroin for the U.S. market. The majority of methamphetamine sold in the United States is made in Mexico, and Mexican-run methamphetamine labs that operate north of the border account for much of the remainder.
Drug cartels
Mexican drug cartels play a major role in the flow of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transiting between Latin America and the United States. These drug cartels often use Mexican-American and other Latino gangs to distribute their narcotics in United States.
Mexican drug cartels also have ties to Colombian drug traffickers, and other international organized crime. A sharp spike in drug-related violence has some analysts worrying about the 'Colombianization' of Mexico.
According to the DEA, about 93% of cocaine in the United States comes from Colombia and is smuggled across the Mexico–United States border.
Domestic production of illegal drugs
Some illegal drugs are also produced in Mexico, including significant amounts of opium poppy, and marijuana in the western Sierra Madre Mountains region. In 2017, the INL estimated that "between 90 and 94 percent of all heroin consumed in the United States comes from Mexico." 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. 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.Leticia Díaz, Gloria. 2009. "Estado de Mexico: Nuevo Domnio de "la Familia"." Pp. 30–33 in Proceso Edición Especial #25. Mexico City, D.F.: Proceso: semanario de Información y analisis. General editor: Rafael Rodriguez Castaneda.
Domestic consumption of illegal drugs Marijuana, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs are increasingly consumed in Mexico, especially by youths in urban areas and northern parts of the country.
Border towns on the Mexico–United States border have been negatively affected by the Opioid epidemic in the United States. Many of the deaths are from an extremely potent opioid, fentanyl, which is trafficked from Mexico.
Corruption
High levels of corruption in the police, judiciary, and government in general have contributed greatly to the crime problem. Corruption is a significant obstacle to Mexico's achieving a stable democracy.
Mexico is ranked the 138th least corrupt country in the world which makes them less corrupt than Papua New Guinea but more corrupt than Lebanon. This is according to the Corruption Perceptions Index, which is based on 13 different surveys and includes police, business, and political corruption.
Corruption in law enforcement
The war was characterized by a backlash against the active student movement of the late 1960s which ended in the Tlatelolco massacre at a 1968 student rally in Mexico City.
The organization of police forces in Mexico is complex; each police force has a different level of jurisdiction and authority, and those levels often overlap. The Procuraduría General de la República (Federal Attorney General's office) along with the law enforcement agencies Policia Federal Preventiva and Agencia Federal de Investigación, has responsibility for overseeing law enforcements across the entire country. In addition, there are several police organizations at the state, district, and city level. 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. Law enforcement personnel are often presented with the option of choosing "Plata o Plomo"; meaning they can either accept a bribe (plata, for silver) or they will be killed (plomo, for lead).
Corruption plagues the various levels of police, and is frequently difficult to track down and prosecute since police officers may be protected by district attorneys and other members of the judiciary. 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.
The Mexican police force often do not investigate crimes, will generally randomly select someone to be the guilty party then fabricate the evidence. This issue is a major problem throughout Mexico as many of the actual police force are the ones involved in the crimes or are trying to cover up their poor police work.
Corruption in the judiciary A United Nations Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Mexico in 2002 to investigate reports by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that the country's judiciary and administration of law was not independent. During the course of his visit to a number of cities, the rapporteur observed that corruption in the judiciary had not been reduced significantly. One of the principal issues is that, because the federal courts operate at a relatively high level, most citizens are compelled to seek justice in the inadequate state courts.
Additionally, the rapporteur expressed concerns about such issues as disorganization in the legal profession, difficulties and harassment faced by lawyers, poor trial procedures, poor access to the justice system for indigenous peoples and minors, and lacklustre investigation of many crimes.
Violent crime against journalists
A significant increase in violent crime against journalists has been encountered in the country in recent years. Although the problem has existed since at least 1970, the amount of violence against journalist has intensified since the beginning of the Mexican drug war, with at least 90 journalists murdered or disappeared in Mexico since 2006. Few of the perpetrators have been brought to justice. One of the more prominent cases was that of syndicated columnist Francisco Arratia Saldierna, a prominent and well-known journalist who wrote a column called Portavoz (or "Spokesman"). The column featured topics such as corruption, organized crime, and drug trafficking.