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

by Juliana Manjarrés
8 Feb 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 a report from the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center.

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.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/behind-criminal-conflict-raging-chiapas-mexico/