Annual increase in drug dealing and extortion recorded

Drug dealing cases and extortion victims reported between January and July 2025 in Mexico increased compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by the organization Causa en Común.

According to the data, sourced from the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection itself, they confirmed a 13% increase in first-time offenses and an 8% increase in second-time offenses.

The organization detailed that during the aforementioned period, a total of 61,145 drug dealing cases were recorded in the country, while for the same period in 2024, the figure stood at 53,893, a difference of 7,252 cases.

Meanwhile, in the case of extortion victims, the increase was 18%, with 6,880 reported for the first seven months of the year, and 6,358 reported victims of this crime from January to July 2024.

The increase in extortion cases in the country was acknowledged last July by both Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and other federal officials.

As a result, the National Strategy Against Extortion was presented, in which federal and local penitentiary centers were identified as the places where telephone extortion was concentrated.

The federal Security Cabinet detailed that eight states account for 66% of extortion cases nationwide. The State of Mexico tops the list, followed by Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Mexico City, and Veracruz. In addition, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacán are also responsible.

On the other hand, according to figures from Causa en Común, 14,769 victims of intentional homicide were also recorded during that period. According to data from the SSPC, the figure for last year was 17,668.

Between the two figures above, there is a difference of 2,899 victims of this crime, which translates to a decrease of 16.4 percent.

Causa en Común also counted victims of trafficking, which totaled 447 between January and July of this year, 157,351 cases of domestic violence, and 425 victims of kidnapping.