Joaquín Guzmán López, one of ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán’s sons, was also apprehended in the operation carried out at an airport in the border city of El Paso
The criminal organization has repeatedly tried to join the government’s dialogue processes without success. Three weeks ago, it held a public funeral for one of its commanders in broad daylight and in front of dozens of foreign tourists
U.S. authorities are stepping up their fight against the criminal organization, which the Treasury Department claims is responsible for a ‘significant proportion’ of the trafficking of the opioid
Thousands of clandestine labs to manufacture synthetic drugs are dumping tons of toxic chemicals into Mexico’s most fragile ecosystems. Who is in charge of protecting the environment against the growing number of these laboratories? Quinto Elemento Lab investigates
Municipalities in the so-called ‘banana corridor’ are electing dozens of local and federal representatives in June. Booming economies, criminal gangs, old civil defense groups and hundreds of victims are intertwined with the vote
According to the most conservative studies, some 17 million weapons circulate illegally in Mexico. The vast majority come from the United States
When consulted by EL PAÍS, activists, members of the Federal Police and local journalists confirm that it’s impossible to enter or leave Frontera Comalapa or Chicomuselo
The latest annual report from the anti-narcotics agency warns that the two criminal groups ‘have effectively eliminated any competition’ and already have a presence in all 50 states of the country
The drug lord recounts his life as a key member of the Medellín Cartel after leaving a US prison, where he served 33 years
EL PAÍS travels along the border of the poorest state in Mexico, a region dominated by criminal groups. From the city of Tapachula to the Lacandon Jungle, passing through the towns of Frontera Comalapa and Chisomuselo, this story illustrates the fight between cartels, the abandonment of the state, the murders, forced displacements, kidnappings and extortions, along with the efforts made by the local and migrant populations to survive
After the latest blows inflicted, the authorities claim the criminal organization has splintered and lost its power; independent researchers argue that it is a hidden monster with deep roots in working-class neighborhoods
The authorities said the detained capo was ‘one of the main generators of violence’ in the Mexican capital and suggested La Unión Tepito has imploded after the capture of several leaders
Venezuelan, Peruvian, Haitian, Chinese, and Afghan families endure hunger, disease, and violence while they raise money to cross the rainforest and reach Panama, on the only land route that leads from South America to the United States
The deaths of Roberto Vega Daza and two other men in Valencia are thought to be connected to a dispute between a Barranquilla crime family and a gang known as Los Costeños
The clergy has been attempting to settle differences between La Familia Michoacana and rivals Los Tlacos after a successful truce between the latter and Los Ardillos over transport routes
The black market in cigarettes as a business and money laundering option for organized crime accounts for up to 30% of a $25 billion smuggling industry
Maintaining the notion that the war on drugs is the solution is borderline insulting in light of the overwhelming evidence accumulated from decades of failure
The 71-year-old drug trafficker, who for years worked under the protection of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison in the US
It’s the big threat. A cheap, white powder — 50 times more powerful than heroin — which kills more than 70,000 people each year in the United States and countless others across the rest of the Western Hemisphere. EL PAÍS, in a long-term investigation that spanned two continents and included interviews with anti-drug czars in the U.S. and China, visited the clandestine laboratories in Sinaloa, where fentanyl is manufactured. In the vicinity of these Mexican labs, addicts serve as guinea pigs for drug traffickers. This newspaper has gathered testimonies about how this lethal substance crosses the border to the north and spreads like a plague through the streets of the most powerful country in the world. The trafficking of fentanyl is part of a global network with one foot in China, which the White House has declared war on
The countryside is losing millions of hectares of crops due to land being abandoned. Violence and extortion add to the ravages of climate change and the lack of subsidies
The collection of this ‘tax’ unleashes violence that leaves hundreds of people dead each year, and it robs the public coffers of a fortune
Carlos Hernández’s documentary portrays some of the reasons that have led 19,000 children and adolescents a year to seek a better life in the United States
The authorities claim that 195 bullets were fired from seven different weapons. They are now targeting ‘a group of people that operates’ on the borders between the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Michoacán
An armed group opened fire on a group of friends and the music band during a holiday celebration on a private estate in Salvatierra, in the state of Guanajuato, the scene of bloody turf battles between drug cartels
Caught between drug violence and the devastating effects of insatiable demand, the southern border clings to naloxone, a medication that can reverse overdoses stemming from opioids. But while it’s saving lives in the United States, it’s virtually impossible to find in Mexico
Lawyers for the former Mexican official, imprisoned in the U.S. for drug trafficking and organized crime, say they have new evidence that exonerates their client
María Consuelo Loera’s final moments coincided with the heralding of two changes in national drug trafficking: the rise of synthetic drugs and cartels that are less sustained by family relationships
