Mexico: Over 6000 kidnappings since December 2012

Event

Statistics released by the National Public Security System (SNSP) show that over 6000 kidnappings have occurred across Mexico since the inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto in December 2012. Analysts expect the total number of kidnappings to set a national record by the end of President Nieto’s six-year term in December 2018. The states of Tamaulipas, México, Veracruz, and Guerrero have been most affected.

Context

The spike in violence and kidnappings has been attributed to fierce turf wars between competing and increasingly fragmented cartels. This trend has been observed in much of the country since mid-2016, following the January 2016 arrest of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín (El Chapo) Guzmán, despite the deployment of extra security forces to the worst-affected areas. While attacks typically target rival gangs, business owners, and government figures, bystanders are sometimes caught up in the crossfire.

This violence is poised to continue as long as the structural causes of insecurity - such as institutional weakness, corrupt and deficient security forces, poor public services, and a political establishment susceptible to bribes - are not effectively addressed.

Advice

Individuals present in Mexico are advised to remain vigilant, to vary daily routines, and to refrain from sharing personal information with unknown persons to reduce the risk of being targeted by potential kidnappers. If attacked, remain calm, do not offer any resistance, and obey all demands issued by your assailant(s). Do everything in your power to keep the situation as calm as possible (accept offered food, engage in conversation initiated by your captors, avoid all political or potentially inflammatory topics, do not do anything that would alarm your captors, etc.).

Due to extreme levels of violence linked to the presence of various armed groups, some Western governments advise against travel to a large portion of Mexican territory, including Guerrero, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas states, the northeastern border with the US, and, to a lesser extent, Baja California, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, and Veracruz states.