Sunday, October 26, 2025

Merchants group signals skyrocketing extortion costs for small retailers

Extortion costs for small retailers have surged across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an organization that represents their interests.

Pre-pandemic, extortion costs hovered around 200 pesos (US $10) per business, but shot up to 500 pesos minimum during the pandemic, says the National Alliance of Small Businesses (ANPEC), which estimates that extortion generates US $11.3 billion for criminal groups throughout the country.

“Extortion operates with total impunity in practically the entire country due to the growing wave of insecurity and violence … in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán and Guerrero; Bajío; Huasteca, Rivereña Tamaulipeca; the northeast of Chihuahua to Mexicali, passing through Magdalena de Quino, San Luis Río Colorado, Navolato, Culiacán, Los Mochis, Tijuana, Rosarito; towns in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and near Monterrey; Mexico City … among others,” ANPEC said.

For small businesses, that insecurity means dealing with both petty theft and armed robbery while local and state officials demand bribes. But a “culture of not reporting” remains, ANPEC said, due to lack of trust of the police.

“There is a justified suspicion that [the police] are colluding with criminals in many cases, leading thousands of small businesses to close their doors, since nobody likes working only to have the money they spent so much effort earning taken away by people threatening their families,” said alliance president Cuauhtémoc Rivera.

With reports from Milenio

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
President Sheinbaum, Governor of México state Delfina Gómez and Minister of Infrastructure, Transportation and Communications (SICT) Jesús Esteva supervising the construction of the Mexico-Pachuca train.

Mexico’s week in review: Fentanyl kingpin handed to US as cartel pressures persist

0
Other headlines this week included comments from former president Felipe Calderón hinting at a political comeback and underwhelming economic indicators in the third quarter of 2025.
Zhi Dong Zhang mug shots

Mexico deports Chinese fentanyl kingpin Brother Wang to the US

1
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch thanked Cuba for its "valuable cooperation" in the process.
An oil tanker bearing the name Torm Agnes from Singapore

Report: How a US company helped a Mexican cartel smuggle US $12 million of fuel into Ensenada

0
Fuel smuggling may account for as much as a third of the Mexican market, and the culprits aren’t found exclusively in Mexico.  
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity