By Fausto Carbajal Glass, Partner, Miranda Delphi Solutions
Mexican security dynamics show escalating transnational criminal challenges across multiple fronts. The US Department of Justice’s “Operation Take Back America” targets major cartels including CJNG, Juárez Cartel, and La Familia Michoacana, while Mexican authorities identified eleven arms trafficking routes from the United States, resulting in significant seizures and arrests. Business organizations endorsed national anti-extortion strategies addressing crimes generating 26 billion pesos in losses annually. Sinaloa’s 300-day narco armed violence demonstrates how criminal organizations control regional peace following the cartel’s collapse after Mayo Zambada’s betrayal. Meanwhile, maritime migration emerges as the sole pathway to the US showing growth, with traffickers charging premium rates for dangerous ocean crossings that have resulted in multiple deaths. These interconnected security challenges underscore Mexico’s complex struggle against organized crime’s evolving dynamics.
CJNG, Juárez Cartel, and La Familia Michoacana: These are the Mexican cartels under investigation by Operation “Take Back America”.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched Operation “Take Back America”, a comprehensive initiative targeting transnational criminal organizations responsible for violent crimes, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and money laundering. While primarily focused on the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction, the operation also targets other Mexican and Latin American criminal networks operating on US territory. Key targets include the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)”, border groups like La Línea and Los Mexicles, transnational gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18, and international money laundering networks. The DOJ has intensified actions against financial operators, chemical precursor suppliers, and arms brokers, creating a multifaceted offensive against organized crime. Central to the operation is combating the fentanyl epidemic. Both major cartels have developed mass fentanyl production networks using chemicals primarily from China and India, transforming this initiative into an international public health emergency requiring coordinated federal agency response across multiple jurisdictions.
Infobae, 7/13/25, Carlos Salas: CJNG, Cártel de Juárez y La Familia Michoacana, estos son los cárteles mexicanos que investiga la operación “Recuperemos América”.
From the US to Mexico: Attorney General’s Office identifies 11 arms trafficking routes.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in coordination with the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) identified eleven firearms trafficking routes from the United States between November 20, 2024, and May 19, 2025. These routes transport weapons to ten Mexican states including Baja California, Chihuahua, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. The identified corridors span major border crossings from San Diego-Tijuana extending to Acapulco, Yuma-San Luis Río Colorado, Phoenix-Sonoyta-Guadalajara, and multiple Texas-Mexico entry points including El Paso-Ciudad Juárez, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo, and McAllen-Reynosa routes. These pathways facilitate organized crime operations across Mexican territory. As part of anti-criminal organization strategy, authorities seized 5,869 firearms, 31,868 magazines, 1,296,761 cartridges, and 289 grenades. Intelligence operations resulted in 11,828 criminal arrests, destruction of 2,835 hectares of poppy fields and 1,691 hectares of marijuana crops, plus confiscation of 7,338 vehicles and over $33 million in cash and assets combined.
El Financiero, 7/08/25, Redacción: De EU a México: FGR detecta 11 rutas de tráfico de armas.
Coparmex and Concanaco endorse anti-extortion strategy.
Mexico’s Concanaco and Coparmex endorsed the National Anti-Extortion Strategy, which includes reform initiatives to criminally classify this offense that generated losses exceeding 26 billion pesos in 2024. Business organizations emphasized that extortion represents a critical obstacle affecting the productive sector, with official data indicating 32.3 daily victims. Coparmex reported that 12.8 percent of member companies have experienced extortion, particularly through telephone calls (70.5 percent), primarily impacting micro, small and medium enterprises that generate 65 percent of national employment. The private sector urged expediting a General Extortion Law to coordinate federal and local actions, establish clear penalties, and eliminate revolving-door justice. They proposed creating specialized local Anti-Extortion Units with trained personnel and immediate response capabilities. Concanaco characterized extortion as not merely economic crime but “social and territorial subjugation”, celebrating structural reform that shifts responsibility from victims to state prosecution as an “ineludible duty”.
La Jornada, 7/08/25, Alejandro Alegría: Coparmex y Concanaco respaldan estrategia contra la extorsión.
Rocío Nahle denies receiving information about fuel theft from Eduardo León Trauwitz.
Veracruz Governor Rocío Nahle rejected accusations made by retired General Eduardo León Trauwitz, former Pemex Strategic Safeguard deputy director, who alleged she received information about fuel theft networks during the 2018 government transition. Through her official X account, the former Energy Secretary stated she only met Trauwitz once when he visited accompanied by a businessman offering security products. Nahle acknowledged that during their meeting, the general mentioned offshore hydrocarbon theft was “common” and referenced maritime pirates, but denied receiving any official documentation or reports. The governor emphasized that such crimes were completely eliminated during López Obrador’s previous federal administration. Trauwitz, currently detained in Canada since December 2021 facing extradition proceedings for alleged omissions facilitating hydrocarbon theft, maintains his defense while five former collaborators received sentences ranging from 12 to 31 years for stealing over two billion liters of fuel.
Proceso, 7/12/25, Flavia Morales: Rocío Nahle rechaza haber recibido información sobre huachicol de Eduardo León Trauwitz.
300 days of narco warfare in Sinaloa: peace remains in the hands of criminals.
Mexico surpassed 300 days of armed violence in Sinaloa on July 6, with over 1,500 official homicides and 1,800 disappearances resulting from the Sinaloa Cartel’s collapse. The criminal structure, once the world’s largest, crumbled after Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s 2016 capture and 2017 extradition, triggering succession battles between his sons “Los Chapitos” and veteran leaders like “El Mayo” Zambada. The definitive breakdown occurred July 25, 2024, when Los Chapitos betrayed Mayo to US authorities, officially ending the cartel September 9 with Culiacán confrontations. The conflict reveals five critical lessons: peace depends on criminal groups rather than governors, organized crime operates as parallel armies using Colombian mercenaries with counterinsurgency training, criminal promises break during warfare as extortion emerges, prison control enables street violence through the Aguaruto penitentiary’s criminal operations, and grievances become hereditary without state intervention for orphaned youth seeking revenge.
Milenio, 7/13/25, Óscar Balderas: 300 días de la guerra del narco en Sinaloa: la paz está en manos de los criminales.
Human trafficking from Mexico to the US: now conducted via high seas.
Maritime migration from Mexico to the United States has emerged as the only pathway showing increases between October 2024 and June 2025, while southern border crossings virtually disappeared due to military reinforcements and enhanced CBP operations. The California Regional Coordination Mechanism (ReCoM) intercepted 1,104 people attempting irregular maritime entry, representing a 23 percent increase compared to 897 detentions during the same period in 2023-2024. Human traffickers exploit enhanced border surveillance by convincing migrants that maritime routes offer easier access, charging between $12,000-$18,000 compared to $6,000-$8,000 for land crossings. However, smugglers deceive migrants about dangerous conditions, forcing them to swim to shore from jet skis in frigid Pacific waters with strong currents. Recent tragedies underscore maritime dangers: in May, two Indian children aged 10 and 14 drowned when their fishing boat capsized near Torrey Pines Beach, with six Mexican nationals arrested. CBP’s Brandon Tucker reported 30 deaths in recent years from maritime smuggling operations.
La Silla Rota, 7/12/25, Jorge Cisneros: Tráfico de migrantes de México a EU: ahora es por altamar.
If you would like to talk to Fausto about our services in risk and security consulting, please email him at fausto.carbajal@miranda-partners.com
More information can be found at: https://miranda-partners.com/jvs-delphi-solutions/
Download PDF: MI-SecurityChatter-071625