Mexican authorities intensify anti‑extortion efforts in Guanajuato and Puebla

The Secretariat of Security and Peace in Guanajuato held a training session for more than 40 hotel and restaurant operators, teaching them how to recognize and respond to telephone, in‑person and virtual extortion attempts. The program, led by Comisario Jefe Ángel Castillo Bárcenas and Comisario Supervisor Jesús Alejandro Sierra Gallegos of the Escuadrón Antiextorsión, covered common extortion tactics, social‑engineering methods and reporting procedures.

In Puebla, the state Secretary of Public Security, Francisco Sánchez González, identified the Hidalgo and Morelos markets as “red‑zone” sites for extortion and floor‑price charging. A permanent joint operation involving the army, National Guard and municipal security forces has been deployed to disrupt criminal groups that have operated in those markets for years.