Mexico authorities and businesses urge reporting to combat extortion

Business leaders and security authorities in Mexico are calling for increased reporting of extortion to combat the crime effectively. In the State of Mexico, representatives from CONCAEM, CANIRAC, and Canacintra have presented a joint strategy focused on intelligence, investigation, and reducing the ‘dark figure’ of unreported crimes.

Mauricio Massud Martínez of CONCAEM noted that while 3,920 extortion complaints were officially recorded in the State of Mexico during the first half of 2026, approximately 97 percent of cases go unreported nationally. Similarly, in Tamaulipas, Public Security Secretary Arturo Pancardo Escudero emphasized that authorities can only act immediately when victims formalize complaints. He cited recent interventions involving flower merchants in Reynosa as an example of how reporting enables police action.

Business representatives, including Canirac president Cristian Muñoz Tapia, stressed that combating extortion requires breaking the silence and overcoming the fear of reporting, particularly among the thousands of food and beverage establishments that face these threats.