What Is Behind the Criminal Conflict Raging in Chiapas, Mexico?

By Juliana Manjarrés

On February 8, 2024

Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas has started 2024 with a surge in violence between the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel New Generation, in what is just the latest flare up of a prolonged conflict between factions of the rival groups.

On February 5, several families returned to the towns of Nuevo Chejel and Puerto Rico, located near the municipality of Socoltenango in the southern part of the state, about a month after thousands of residents were displaced by organized crime groups that had imposed new taxes on families farming corn in the region.

Their return marked the beginning of a state-led effort to assist those who had been uprooted amid ongoing fighting between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), which is the main driver of displacement in this part of Chiapas, according to local human rights groups consulted by InSight Crime.

The southern border state has become a key transit point for cocaine shipments and migrants traveling north to the United States. In years past, the Sinaloa Cartel had dominated this region, but the CJNG started to dispute that control in 2021 in an effort to take over prized smuggling routes, according to internal Mexican Army (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional – SEDENA) reports obtained by an anonymous group of hackers known as “Guacamaya” and reviewed by InSight Crime.

Below, InSight Crime looks at three key factors impacting the conflict in Chiapas.

Migrant Smuggling on the Rise

Given its geographic location, the state of Chiapas is at the heart of the migrant smuggling routes that cut through Mexico. As such, fighting between organized crime groups to control these routes has intensified. In addition to smuggling, crime groups also profit off migrants through kidnappings and extortion.

The potential profits are substantial. Last year, Mexico’s Refugee Commission (Comisión Mexicana de Refugiados – COMAR) received a record 140,982 official requests from migrants for refugee status in the country. More than half of those requests were made in Tapachula, the biggest migration hub in Chiapas.

However, many migrants trying to reach the US-Mexico border also turn to human smugglers. As InSight Crime has previously reported, factions of some of Mexico’s most powerful organized crime groups, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, collect a quota of up to $100 per migrant from those moving migrants through areas they control.

Those who cannot pay are often kidnapped for ransom. Crime groups frequently demand the families of kidnapped migrants pay exorbitant ransoms. But those are not the only risks. Migrants are also victimized by corrupt authorities who extort them and at times collude with organized crime groups.

Secondary Criminal Economies

While control of drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes are in large part driving the conflict between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG in Chiapas, extortion, kidnapping, and land disputes are also impacting security.

Extortion is particularly problematic. One of the most common forms observed in Chiapas is a tax imposed by criminal groups on local business owners in exchange for protection.

“In the eyes of the local population and criminal groups, paying the tax implies being a member of the criminal structure, collaborating provides economic support for the conflict,” according to a report from a civil society group monitoring violence in Chiapas, accessed exclusively by InSight Crime.

While these extortion payments initially impacted the transport sector in Chiapas, other parts of the local economy, such as the agricultural industry, are now also being targeted. In December 2023, for example, local media reported that at least 30% of coffee growers in production zones had abandoned their crops as a result of extortion demands.

Political Influence

The worsening violence in Chiapas is also political, as influencing local politics is essential for organized crime groups to operate and exert control over specific areas.

Ahead of June elections for the governorship, state legislature, mayors, and city councils in Chiapas, “organized crime groups are, on the one hand, fighting for votes, but also to control territory,” said a member of Mexico’s National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations (Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos), who requested anonymity for security reasons.

“Managing to co-opt the local public administration, in addition to being a source of power, is also a way to access public funds,” they added.

The state has already seen political violence ahead of the upcoming election. On January 5, gunmen shot and killed David Rey González Moreno, an aspiring candidate for municipal president in Suchiate.

Some reports suggest that political assassinations and threats against candidates are likely to continue prior to this year’s presidential elections. With increased profits from synthetic drug trafficking and growing migratory flows, factions of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG may be well positioned to use targeted displays of violence against candidates to protect their criminal operations.

This piece was republished from Insight Crime.