Cartels Are Taking Over Emergency Rooms in Mexico, Forcing Doctors to Treat Gunmen At Gunpoint

A new report has revealed that criminal organizations in Mexico have increasingly taken control of hospital emergency rooms, forcing medical personnel to treat their wounded gunmen at gunpoint.

In states like Guanajuato, where rival cartels battle for territorial control, healthcare professionals describe a climate of fear, coercion, and growing normalization of violence within medical spaces.

"They threaten us by phone at dawn," said a doctor at a public health center in Guanajuato to Noticias Telemundo. "They tell us, 'We are just meters away from your house with your family.'"

In some cases, cartel members arrive at hospitals heavily armed, seizing surgical units and cutting off communication to prevent staff from alerting authorities. "They take our phones, isolate us, and threaten us if we report them," the doctor added.

According to the physician, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has repeatedly forced him to use hospital equipment to treat gunshot wounds sustained by operatives. "They arrive with long guns at hospital entrances, demanding care for their wounded," he said. In at least one case, the same cartel members who forced him to treat him later died in a shootout with the Mexican Army.

The phenomenon is not isolated. In 2024, an armed group entered a hospital in Cuernavaca and killed a patient in intensive care. In Mazatlán, cartel members threatened hospital staff with the words, "If they die, you die," to ensure treatment. And in Culiacán, hospitals have been targeted multiple times in recent years.

Security analyst David Saucedo told the news site that cartels now routinely occupy entire facilities. "They take over hospitals, kidnap nurses, doctors, and specialists, and use operating rooms and blood banks to restore their fighters so they can return to criminal activity," Saucedo explained.

He noted that some groups have gone further, establishing their own private medical facilities, citing examples linked to CJNG leader "El Mencho" and Sinaloa Cartel figure Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

"This should not be normal," the doctor emphasized. "Many colleagues have gone through this. Some take leave, others seek psychological help. We're all affected."

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "cartels have a tremendous grip on the country" and that "Mexican authorities are petrified to show up at their offices."