According to the Associated Press, the problem of extortion is getting worse in Mexico.
From the Associated Press (AP): “Extortion is strangling businesses in Mexico. Much, but not all, of it is linked to Mexico’s powerful organized crime groups. While some larger companies eat it as the cost of doing business, many smaller ones are forced to close. The Mexican Employers’ Association, Coparmex, says extortion cost businesses some $1.3 billion in 2023. And this year, while other major crimes are descending, extortion continues to rise, up 10% nationally in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.”
In Mexico City it’s a big problem.
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From the Associated Press: “In Mexico City, the number of reported extortion cases nearly doubled in the first five months of 2025 to 498, up from 249 for the same period last year. It’s the highest total at this point in the year in the past six years, according to federal crime data.”
Notice that paragraph says “reported extortion cases”. Many are not reported, so the actual number must be much higher.
“Reported extortion cases are only a small fraction of the reality. Mexico’s National Institute for Statistics and Geography estimated that some 97% of extortion cases were not reported in 2023. Reporting is low because of a combination of fear and skepticism that authorities will do something.”
The article quotes the head of the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce:
“The problem, said Vicente Gutiérrez Camposeco, president of the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce, ‘has become entrenched’ in Mexico and especially the capital in recent years.”
Even a popsicle shop isn’t exempt.
“Daniel Bernardi, whose family has run a popsicle shop in the historic center for 85 years, was resigned to the situation. ‘There isn’t much to do,’ he said. ‘You pay when you have to pay.’ ”
The Mexico City government announced action.
“Last month, the Mexico City prosecutor’s office announced that it was creating a special prosecutor’s office to investigate and prosecute extortion.”
And so has the federal government.
“In July, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would propose legislation giving the government greater powers to pursue extortionists. This week, her administration also announced a national strategy to address extortion. There will be a phone number to anonymously report extortion; the power to immediately cancel phone numbers associated with extortion calls; local anti-extortion units to investigate cases and the involvement of Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit to freeze bank accounts associated with extortion.”
Unsurprisingly, the drug cartels are involved, but they’re not doing all of the extortion.
“Extortion’s rapid expansion has to do with the significant sums it generates for organized crime, drawing in the country’s most powerful drug cartels, among others. The Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels have made extortion ‘one of the divisions of their criminal portfolios,’ said security analyst David Saucedo. And with the cartels involved, small-time crooks take advantage of the fear and run their own little extortion rackets, pretending to be associated with larger organized crime groups.”
The Associated Press article (here) relates the story of a men’s clothing story, in the same family for three generations, which shut down due to extortion threats. The article reports that
“The [clothing store] owner recalled that a nearby restaurant that had opened around the same time as his own store, had closed after its owner was killed, supposedly after not paying extortion demands.”
Click here and here for previous Mexico News Report articles on extortion in Mexico.