President Claudia Sheinbaum urged Mexico’s governors Thursday to support and help implement the new federal anti-extortion law passed last month but still needing approval by a majority of states.
Speaking to the 31 governors, the Mexico City mayor and her security cabinet during a National Security Council meeting, Sheinbaum pleaded for unity and a concerted effort to combat extortion, the one crime that has not been curtailed since she took office.
“It is a very sensitive crime due to its social impact,” she said, as she also urged state officials to harmonize local laws with the new law.
The Senate approved the Law to Prevent, Investigate and Punish Extortion Offenses on Nov. 19 and the Chamber of Deputies passed it on Nov. 25. As a constitutional amendment, it must be ratified by a majority of state Congresses before it becomes law.
Calling eradication of extortion one of her administration’s biggest challenges and top priorities, Sheinbaum explained the motivation for the constitutional amendment.
“Extortion has been primarily categorized as a state crime and prosecution depended on a citizen’s complaint,” she said. “The reform makes extortion a federal crime, and mandates that it be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office ex officio.”
Sheinbaum emphasized the importance of removing the burden of reporting the crime on the victim.
“The reform transforms the crime into one we must all prosecute and acknowledges that extortion is not something that only affects one person,” she said.
Extortion is the one crime Sheinbaum has acknowledged she has failed to reduce during her first year in office, and the government is struggling to contain it.
Coordination between the federal government and state authorities has led to a 37% reduction in homicide rates and other high-impact crimes, Sheinbaum said, but extortion continues to be a nationwide plague on the public.
According to government data presented earlier this week, kidnappings decreased by 58.4% between 2019 and 2025, while robberies with violence fell by almost 49%. Extortion, however, has increased by 23.1%.
The Sheinbaum administration launched a National Strategy Against Extortion in July. A primary feature of the strategy was the bill that Congress approved last month.
Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime
The reform unifies the definition of extortion nationwide while standardizing — and stiffening — penalties, which previously varied by state. The law establishes minimum prison sentences of between 15 and 25 years, which can reach up to 42 years depending on aggravating circumstances.
Officials who are convicted of failing to report known extortion crimes face up to 20 years in prison, and prison authorities or public servants who facilitate extortion could be jailed for up to 25 years.
A cartel-related extortion arrest
The government did announce a major development on Wednesday, arresting Édgar Rodríguez, alias “El Limones,” along with five other people as part of a federal operation against extortion networks linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
“El Limones” and his organization allegedly targeted ranchers and merchants in the La Laguna area that straddles the states of Coahuila and Durango.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch called the arrests “a direct blow to extortion networks, in line with the National Strategy against Extortion established by President Sheinbaum.”
With reports from El País, La Jornada, Infobae and N+
