World Conflicts
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Mexico cartel violence

Active High intensity Intrastate Americas 11 Dec 2006 to present

Mexican security forces fight powerful criminal organizations, which also fight each other. Official homicide counts fell in 2025 and 2026, but tens of thousands are still killed each year and over 130,000 people are registered missing. In February 2026, troops killed CJNG leader 'El Mencho', setting off retaliatory violence across 20 states.

Conflict zones

Click a shape for details and sources

Zones, lines of contact and strike arcs are approximate and illustrative, drawn from public reporting. They are not authoritative; click a shape for its sources. Borders from Natural Earth, with Crimea shown as part of Ukraine in line with UN General Assembly resolution 68/262.

Key facts

Homicide victims, Jan-Aug 2026 (SESNSP)
11,586 (down 30.8% on Jan-Aug 2025)
Latinometrics as of 31 Aug 2026
Registered disappeared persons
Over 130,000
JusticeInfo.net as of 19 May 2026
Security personnel killed in El Mencho operation
25 National Guard members and 1 state police officer
Mexico News Daily as of 23 Feb 2026
CJNG roadblocks after El Mencho's death
Between 80 and 250, across 20 states
Mexico News Daily as of 23 Feb 2026
Reported fatalities, last 4 weeks (ACLED)
427
ACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026
Deaths in 2026, 1 Jan to 30 Sep 2026 (UCDP)
2,153 best estimate (1,747–2,456)
UCDP GED Candidate 26.0.9 as of 30 Sep 2026

Human cost

Fatalities
24K–28Krange across 2 sources
Killed in 2026 so far (UCDP)
2.2K
  • 2,153 estimatedUCDP GED Candidate 26.0.9 as of 30 Sep 2026UCDP best estimate, events 1 Jan to 30 Sep 2026; low 1,747, high 2,456
People displaced
All forcibly displaced, country-wide (UNHCR)
541K
Recorded events, last 30 days
463

Parties and actors

  • Mexican Army, National Guard and police State security forces · aligned with Government
  • Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) Criminal armed group
  • Other cartels and criminal groups Criminal armed groups

Parties are listed factually by name and role. Inclusion does not imply any judgement.

Negotiations

Negotiations hub

No negotiation track is currently tracked for this conflict.

Trend: events and reported fatalities by month

Events per month Reported fatalities per month
0 0 250 250 500 500 750 750 1K 1KNov 2021: 493 events, 592 reported fatalitiesDec 2021: 476 events, 536 reported fatalitiesJan 2022: 669 events, 781 reported fatalities2022Feb 2022: 499 events, 596 reported fatalitiesMar 2022: 481 events, 578 reported fatalitiesApr 2022: 607 events, 710 reported fatalitiesMay 2022: 569 events, 662 reported fatalitiesJun 2022: 561 events, 674 reported fatalitiesJul 2022: 648 events, 745 reported fatalitiesAug 2022: 512 events, 538 reported fatalitiesSep 2022: 497 events, 587 reported fatalitiesOct 2022: 702 events, 799 reported fatalitiesNov 2022: 501 events, 525 reported fatalitiesDec 2022: 639 events, 784 reported fatalitiesJan 2023: 518 events, 555 reported fatalities2023Feb 2023: 473 events, 543 reported fatalitiesMar 2023: 471 events, 541 reported fatalitiesApr 2023: 633 events, 723 reported fatalitiesMay 2023: 528 events, 579 reported fatalitiesJun 2023: 475 events, 521 reported fatalitiesJul 2023: 681 events, 799 reported fatalitiesAug 2023: 552 events, 623 reported fatalitiesSep 2023: 614 events, 663 reported fatalitiesOct 2023: 457 events, 502 reported fatalitiesNov 2023: 412 events, 437 reported fatalitiesDec 2023: 494 events, 583 reported fatalitiesJan 2024: 452 events, 551 reported fatalities2024Feb 2024: 511 events, 613 reported fatalitiesMar 2024: 590 events, 687 reported fatalitiesApr 2024: 573 events, 629 reported fatalitiesMay 2024: 569 events, 637 reported fatalitiesJun 2024: 771 events, 853 reported fatalitiesJul 2024: 610 events, 664 reported fatalitiesAug 2024: 656 events, 705 reported fatalitiesSep 2024: 616 events, 790 reported fatalitiesOct 2024: 675 events, 754 reported fatalitiesNov 2024: 789 events, 884 reported fatalitiesDec 2024: 468 events, 502 reported fatalitiesJan 2025: 645 events, 619 reported fatalities2025Feb 2025: 672 events, 702 reported fatalitiesMar 2025: 759 events, 856 reported fatalitiesApr 2025: 620 events, 617 reported fatalitiesMay 2025: 788 events, 825 reported fatalitiesJun 2025: 678 events, 706 reported fatalitiesJul 2025: 630 events, 657 reported fatalitiesAug 2025: 696 events, 696 reported fatalitiesSep 2025: 590 events, 585 reported fatalitiesOct 2025: 544 events, 569 reported fatalitiesNov 2025: 672 events, 707 reported fatalitiesDec 2025: 450 events, 504 reported fatalitiesJan 2026: 685 events, 672 reported fatalities2026Feb 2026: 564 events, 560 reported fatalitiesMar 2026: 507 events, 488 reported fatalitiesApr 2026: 548 events, 543 reported fatalitiesMay 2026: 656 events, 691 reported fatalitiesJun 2026: 455 events, 443 reported fatalitiesJul 2026: 481 events, 512 reported fatalitiesAug 2026: 587 events, 563 reported fatalitiesSep 2026: 497 events, 480 reported fatalitiesOct 2026: 463 events, 427 reported fatalities
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026 Political violence events only (battles, explosions/remote violence, violence against civilians).
Show data table
MonthEventsFatalities
Oct 2026463427
Sep 2026497480
Aug 2026587563
Jul 2026481512
Jun 2026455443
May 2026656691
Apr 2026548543
Mar 2026507488
Feb 2026564560
Jan 2026685672
Dec 2025450504
Nov 2025672707
Oct 2025544569
Sep 2025590585
Aug 2025696696
Jul 2025630657
Jun 2025678706
May 2025788825
Apr 2025620617
Mar 2025759856
Feb 2025672702
Jan 2025645619
Dec 2024468502
Nov 2024789884
Oct 2024675754
Sep 2024616790
Aug 2024656705
Jul 2024610664
Jun 2024771853
May 2024569637
Apr 2024573629
Mar 2024590687
Feb 2024511613
Jan 2024452551
Dec 2023494583
Nov 2023412437
Oct 2023457502
Sep 2023614663
Aug 2023552623
Jul 2023681799
Jun 2023475521
May 2023528579
Apr 2023633723
Mar 2023471541
Feb 2023473543
Jan 2023518555
Dec 2022639784
Nov 2022501525
Oct 2022702799
Sep 2022497587
Aug 2022512538
Jul 2022648745
Jun 2022561674
May 2022569662
Apr 2022607710
Mar 2022481578
Feb 2022499596
Jan 2022669781
Dec 2021476536
Nov 2021493592

Events by type

Battles Explosions / remote violence Violence against civilians
0 250 500 750 1K 20222023202420252026
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026

Most affected provinces

  1. Sinaloa 975 events · 915 fatalities
  2. Guanajuato 692 events · 742 fatalities
  3. Michoacan de Ocampo 504 events · 519 fatalities
  4. Morelos 470 events · 408 fatalities
  5. Baja California 424 events · 431 fatalities
  6. Nuevo Leon 359 events · 380 fatalities
  7. Puebla 320 events · 331 fatalities
  8. Guerrero 299 events · 392 fatalities
reportedACLED aggregated data, up to week of 24 Oct 2026 as of 24 Oct 2026 Last 12 months, political violence events.

Sources and further reading

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