Kidnappings, threats and ‘protection fees’: how can Mexico confront rise in deadly extortion?

With corrupt police on the streets and shopkeepers forced to pay gangs, president has vowed to tackle crime that now affects all parts of society

It was about 11pm and Luis* was about to get into an Uber to go home when the police car pulled up. One of the officers frisked him and produced two plastic bags with what looked like drugs: one contained some sort of powder, the other little crystals. Luis had never seen them before.

Luis, who asked not to use his real name for fear of reprisals, insisted that the drugs weren’t his, but the officers didn’t seem to care. They shoved him into the back of the police truck and drove into the night.

“You’re in big trouble,” one said.

The frightening ordeal lasted hours, as the police drove him all over the Mexican city, threatening him, mocking him and sexually assaulting him. It was only once the officers had drained both of Luis’ bank accounts and taken all his cash – totalling about $870 – that he was released.

“If you tell anyone what happened, we’re going to find you,” said one of the officers, according to Luis. “Where do you think you could file a complaint? There’ll be someone there who’s going to tell us and then we’re going to kill you and everyone close to you.”

Luis’s terrifying experience has become commonplace in Mexico. Extortion is one of the country’s most prevalent and fastest-growing crimes. Between 2016 and 2025, the number of reported extortion cases nearly doubled. According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is one the world’s top five countries for extortion and racketeering, along with Libya, Colombia, Honduras and Somalia.

In the first four months of 2026, there were nearly 3,600 cases nationwide, according to official figures. Yet the true number is likely far higher: only 0.2% of extortion cases are reported, largely out of fear of reprisals, making it Mexico’s most “silent” crime. It is also one of the country’s most costly, sucking up 0.04% of its GDP every year – nearly $900m.

Extortion affects all sectors of society, from wealthy entrepreneurs to shopkeepers who are targeted by criminal gangs and forced to pay a “protection fee”. In other instances known as “express kidnappings,” people are detained for a few hours until their families pay up.

Gangs abduct – or claim to have abducted – children and even pets, says Emmanuel Moya, an anti-corruption expert. “They don’t discriminate against anyone. That’s why it’s so profitable, so easy to do, and so difficult to combat.”

The town of Huautla in Morelos state recently drew national attention after the Bishop of Cuernavaca denounced the extortionists demanding that residents pay $10 per family member each month just to live there – equivalent to two-thirds of the daily minimum wage.

“Some had five children – imagine what that means per month for a poor person or family, in such a difficult environment,” Bishop Ramón Castro told Radio Fórmula.

In the nearby city of Cuautla, known as the extortion capital of Mexico, things were almost as bad, with street vendors forced to pay sometimes two different gangs at the same time, Castro said.

“Imagine a woman who sells tamales, a woman who sells ice-cream, having to pay organised crime,” he said. “This is unheard of and heartbreaking.”

When owners are unable to keep paying, businesses are often forced to close down. And when people do speak out, the result can be deadly. In October, the leader of a local lime growers’ organisation in Michoacán state was killed after repeatedly denouncing extortion by crime groups. Two weeks later, Carlos Manzo, the mayor of the city of Uruapán, was shot dead on the Day of the Dead after calling out extortion by criminal gangs and local officials.

“We are surrounded by criminal groups dedicated to extortion and killing,” the mayor said last year. “But we are going to confront them.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum has vowed to target the scourge, pushing for a constitutional amendment to make extortion a federal crime, which would allow prosecutors to investigate cases without victims having to file a complaint. Since authorities launched a “national strategy against extortion” last July, more than 1,300 people have been arrested.

Sheinbaum has also launched a large-scale security effort known as Operation Swarm to tackle corruption among local officials. While most cases of extortion are linked to organised crime groups, Operation Swarm has highlighted how prevalent it is among local authorities. The operation has led to the arrests of more than 70 officials, at least five of whom have been convicted on extortion charges.

Often local mayors will work with criminal groups in exchange for bribes, while other times authorities rely on extortion just to line their own pocketbooks.

Luis, like most victims of extortion, decided not to report his experience, fearful that the officers would make good on their threat. But that night still haunts him. “I’m very disappointed by all the kinds of violence happening in the city right now,” he said. “I really suffer every time I pass by a place where there are police officers.”