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Criminal Violence in Mexico

U.S. Treasury Official to Travel to Mexico

  • The Treasury Department announced that Under Secretary John Hurley will travel to Mexico City to discuss targeting cartel operations, drug trafficking, and illicit financing with Mexican officials (Reuters)

United States Sanctions Entities Linked to CJNG Schemes

  • The U.S. Treasury sanctioned four individuals and thirteen companies based in or near Puerto Vallarta, which were allegedly involved in timeshare fraud schemes with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG); according to FBI data, victims, primarily U.S. citizens, lost nearly $300 million from 2019 to 2023 (Reuters)

Mexico Transfers Prisoners to United States

  • Mexico sent twenty-six people imprisoned for drug-related crimes to the United States, the second transfer this year of high-profile prisoners; the move comes as the two countries continue tariff talks, and after Trump reportedly ordered the Pentagon to use military force against Mexican cartels (BBC)

Sheinbaum Rejects Suggestion of U.S. Military Operations Against Cartels

  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that U.S. military action on its soil was “absolutely ruled out” after the New York Times reported that Trump secretly directed the Pentagon to start military operations against drug cartels it listed as terrorists; a White House spokesperson said Trump’s priority was “protecting the homeland” (NYT)

United States Sanctions Four Individuals Linked to Cartel del Noreste

  • The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it sanctioned four “high-ranking members” of Cartel del Noreste, a splinter group from Los Zetas, including El Makabelico, a musician who allegedly laundered half of his royalties from streaming platforms to the group (Reuters)

Prison Riot Against Criminal Organization Leaves Eighteen Casualties

  • Inmates of Tuxpan prison in Veracruz started a riot against Grupo Sombra, a criminal organization reportedly extorting prisoners and their families; seven people were killed and eleven were injured in the riot (AP)

U.S.-Mexico Security Talks

  • The two countries are discussing a security deal in which they would increase intelligence sharing, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said; the deal is meant to help address drug trafficking—among Trump’s stated reasons for imposing tariffs on Mexico—and pave the way for a trade agreement (Bloomberg)

Ten Men Involved With Cartel Recruitment Issued Prison Sentences

  • After their arrest in September 2024, ten men were sentenced to 141 years in prison each for their involvement with the Izaguirre Ranch in Jalisco, which was used between 2021 and 2024 to recruit members, murder victims, and carry out other illicit activities; the men were also ordered to pay 1.3 million pesos (approximately $65,000) in restitution to the victims’ families (AP)

Despite Denying Cartel Ties, Mexican Financial Institutions Suffer From Trump’s Sanctions Announcement

  • After the Trump administration placed sanctions on CiBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa, claiming that they helped launder millions of dollars for drug cartels, Mexico’s banking authority took over CiBanco and Intercam Banco; Fitch Ratings downgraded all three entities, S&P Ratings withdrew CiBanco from its ratings index, and Visa disconnected “its platform for all international transactions” using CiBanco (AP)

Cartel Violence Kills At Least Twenty in Sinaloa

  • In Culiacán, Sinaloa state, four decapitated bodies were hanging from a bridge, and sixteen more bodies were found in a nearby van; the deaths were likely part of an ongoing war for control between Los Chapitos and La Mayiza, both factions of the Sinaloa Cartel (AP).

Mexican President Denounces Sanctions on Financial Institutions

  • One day after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned three Mexican financial institutions, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a news briefing that U.S. President Trump’s administration had not presented evidence of their alleged money laundering activities; the three institutions also rejected the United States’ sanctions (AP)

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Mexican Financial Institutions

  • The U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on three Mexico-based financial institutions, CiBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa, claiming that they were laundering millions of dollars for cartels (AP)

Mass Shooting in Irapuato Causes Over Thirty Casualties

  • In Irapuato, a city in Guanajuato known for frequent gang violence, gunfire from unidentified assailants left twelve people dead and more than twenty injured (Reuters)

Mexican Police Unveil New Fleet of Drones to Combat Cartels

  • In Chiapas, a southern Mexican state bordering Guatemala, the police forces unveiled a new fleet of armed drones to be used against drug cartels that often outgun the police; the drones will be used to carry guns or fight fires (AP)

United States Imposes Sanctions on Leaders of Prominent Cartel

  • Citing fentanyl trafficking and violent acts against American civilians, the Trump administration implemented sanctions on five leading members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, freezing their assets in the United States and denying U.S. citizens from doing business with them (AP)

Drug Cartels Purportedly Recruiting Former Colombian Soldiers

  • Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch claimed that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels had been recruiting former Colombian soldiers to their cartels; Mexican immigration authorities rejected sixty-nine Colombians trying to enter Mexico in recent weeks (AP)

El Chapo’s Sons Sanctioned

  • The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on two fugitive sons of imprisoned drug boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, as well as on a faction of his Sinaloa cartel known as “Los Chapitos;” Washington announced an up to $10 million reward for information on either son, both of whom are thought to be in Mexico (AP)

Mexico Completes First Judicial Election

  • Only 13 percent of eligible voters participated in Mexico’s first-ever judicial election yesterday, authorities said; that’s down from 60 percent who participated in the most recent presidential election last year (ABC News)
  • Legal experts and opposition figures have sharply criticized the government’s plans for a judicial overhaul, saying it will favor candidates from the ruling Morena party (NYT)
  • Candidates for the judiciary were largely blocked from traditional campaigning and ballots featured dozens, and in some cases more than one hundred, choices (NYT)

Mayoral Candidate Killed in Attack on Campaign Rally in Mexico’s Veracruz State

  • The unidentified assailants shot and killed Yesenia Lara, who was running for mayor of Texistepec under the Morena Party, along with three of her supporters at a campaign rally; similar violence has been linked to cartels in the past (CBS/AFP)

Mexico Rebuffs U.S. Troops

  • Mexico rejected a proposal by Trump to send U.S. troops across the border to combat drug gangs, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Saturday; she told supporters at an event that “sovereignty is not for sale” (AP)
  • A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson praised bilateral security cooperation but said that Mexico “must do more” to counter gangs and cartels, and that the United States stands ready to help (Reuters)

UN Refugee Services Cut

  • The UN refugee agency closed four offices and laid off 190 employees in Mexico following the U.S. foreign aid freeze (Reuters)
  • The agency has supported the work of Mexico’s refugee and asylum agency, as it received nearly eighty thousand asylum applications last year, one of the highest levels in the world for 2024 (UNHCR)
  • Asylum applications rose in Mexico as the United States tightened its border (AP)

Local Politician Killed at Restaurant in Jalisco State

  • Assailants shot and killed Jose Luis Pereira, a member of the Teocaltiche city government, in a seemingly targeted attack against the politician; while the assailants remain unidentified, Mexico’s cartels, namely Jalisco New Generation, have been implicated in a recent spike in violence against civilians and police officers in Teocaltiche and the wider Jalisco state (CBS)

Eleven Killed in Clashes Between Rival Gangs in Mexico’s Guerrero State

  • Authorities discovered the bodies in the Tecoanapa municipality; wider Guerrero has one of the highest homicide rates in Mexico due to violent tensions between drug cartels (CBS/AFP)

CIA Reviewing Scenarios of Employing Lethal Force Against Mexican Cartels

  • The Central Intelligence Agency will review potential authorities and options to conduct operations against Mexican cartels to better understand what specific legal action it can take and what collateral risks operations may pose to the safety of American civilians; the move comes as Trump intends to impose greater pressure on Mexico’s drug cartels—which are now formally labeled as Foreign Terrorist Organizations—though the administration has yet to order any lethal force operations (CNN)

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pledges Policies to Strengthen Search for Missing People After Mass Grave Discovered Last Week

  • More than 120,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in the country since the start of official records in 1962; many of the cases are thought to be linked to drug violence (NYT)
  • Authorities have not provided an estimate of how many bodies were in the mass grave, but Sheinbaum said they would issue an update on the probe on Wednesday (Reuters)