Mexican Cartels Are Increasingly Targeting Workers for Recruitment, Expert Says

Workers across several Mexican states have been targeted by organized crime, whose operatives have disappeared and killed them, according to a new report.

Following a rise in cases of violence against workers, Infobae México interviewed Dr. Víctor Sánchez, a researcher and public security specialist, who identified which sectors are most exposed to attacks by organized crime and outlined the tactics used by drug cartels.

Although criminal groups target industries broadly, Sánchez said agriculture, livestock, and mining are among the most affected by cartel extortion, as those activities tend to take place in rural areas with limited institutional oversight.

Sánchez went on to say cargo transport has increasingly become another primary target for organized crime, as drivers are targeted by cartels due to the value and ease of reselling the goods they carry.

"They can target a truck carrying gasoline, televisions, or medical equipment. Transport workers are attacked for the cargo," Sánchez said.

In recent weeks, crimes against workers across multiple industries have underscored the crisis. In late January, 10 engineers working in the mining sector in Sinaloa were kidnapped by alleged members of the Sinaloa cartel.

After going missing for more than two weeks, authorities were able to find the bodies of at least five workers in early February in mass graves. Mexico's top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said workers of Viszla Silver had been mistaken by cartel operatives for members of an opposing criminal organization.

Harfuch said the four people detained so far in connection with the killings belong to the Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. They believed the miners were part of the Mayos, the other offset of the cartel with which they have been engaged in a turf war since September 2024.

More recently, seven electricians in the state of San Luis Potosí disappeared on March 21 after finishing a workday in Matehuala, though they were later found by National Guard personnel days later.

During the interview, Sánchez said criminal groups have long viewed extortion as a steady source of income, and the kidnapping of employees often creates pressure on companies to pay so-called protection fees.

Sánchez added that cartels not only kidnap workers to extort companies, but in some cases — such as with the electricians in San Luis Potosí — also seek to forcibly recruit them.

"This reflects a national trend in which, as more criminal organizations emerge, they turn to diversifying their sources of income," Sánchez said, adding that criminal groups increasingly target workers from foreign companies as a more reliable source of revenue.