Drug Traffickers Take Control Of Health Centers In Some Areas Of Mexico

Despite each his years of acquisition and method training, nan doctor’s sound trembled erstwhile he recalled really organized crime groups person taken power of emergency rooms and aesculapian accommodation successful immoderate parts of Mexico.

“They unit america to travel successful done threatening telephone calls, successful nan early hours of nan morning, and they show us: ‘We’re conscionable a fewer meters from wherever you live, and you’re pinch your family. If you don’t dainty this person, we’re going to prime you up correct here,’” said nan doctor, who useful astatine a wellness halfway successful Guanajuato, successful cardinal Mexico, and who requested complete anonymity for fearfulness of reprisal.

In galore regions of Mexico, organized crime attacks person affected hospitals, moreover taking complete operating rooms and emergency rooms, wherever hitmen kidnap aesculapian unit to unit them to dainty nan wounded successful nan predominant clashes they costs pinch different cartels.

The expert interviewed by Noticias Telemundo successful Guanajuato claimed that, connected 1 occasion, he was contacted successful nan early hours by a high-ranking section supplier operative, who made an different request.

“I received a telephone requesting curen for a personification who had been changeable by a firearm. And they arrived astatine nan main entrances of nan hospitals pinch agelong guns, demanding curen for their patient,” nan expert said. On respective occasions, nan expert said, nan Jalisco New Generation Cartel forced him to usage his instrumentality to dainty hitmen.

Noticias Telemundo confirmed that some nan section leader and nan hitman whose life was saved later died successful a confrontation pinch nan Mexican army. For nan information of nan expert interviewed successful Guanajuato, their names are being withheld.

According to nan United Nations International Narcotics Control Board, cartels and criminal groups proceed to lend to nan precocious levels of unit successful Mexico.

“Organized crime continues to beryllium a cardinal subordinate successful nan lives of Mexicans. This is evident because immoderate criminal groups person managed to unit nan Mexican authorities to suffer power of definite territories, and because of nan corruption and impunity that let them to proceed to reign and grow their capabilities,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, co-director of nan Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center astatine George Mason University, successful an question and reply pinch Noticias Telemundo.

So far, official data shows that from September 2024 to April 2025, location was a 32.9% alteration successful nan regular mean of intentional homicide victims, falling from 86.9 victims per time to 58.3.

However, disappearances increased significantly: In nan first 100 days of Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, 4,010 disappearances were recorded, an mean of 40 per day, compared pinch nan fig of 25 recorded during nan erstwhile six-year term.

“There are galore missing group who, successful reality, person already been kidnapped by supplier traffickers and buried successful alleged narco-graves,” said David Saucedo, a information expert based successful Mexico City. “The cartels are hiding nan bodies, and that’s why we’re seeing a simplification successful homicides successful respective states crossed nan country. But it’s not that location are less deaths; location are less bodies. They’re hiding nan bodies,” Saucedo asserted.

'This shouldn't beryllium normal'

According to nan latest study from nan Mexican government, Guanajuato is nan authorities pinch nan highest number of homicides (980 betwixt January and April 2025). In February 2025, nan regular mean reached 12.5. Last year, nan National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Safety revealed that 87.5% of nan organization considered nationalist information to beryllium nan state’s astir superior problem.

“In Guanajuato, nan Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is fighting complete supplier trafficking pinch nan Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and that’s generating a batch of violence,” Correa-Cabrera explained. “These organized crime groups are fighting for power of spaces because they request much thoroughfare space, location are much feuds, and that’s starring to much injuries and deaths, truthful they’re taking power of aesculapian centers.”

Noticias Telemundo visited Guanajuato to archive nan lawsuit of a wellness halfway successful nan metropolis of Celaya, wherever wounded supplier traffickers were treated. According to a authorities intelligence report, until 3 years ago, nan Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel utilized nan San Fermín Clinic to dainty its wounded hitmen. However, in November 2022, gunmen from nan Jalisco New Generation Cartel killed 2 men location and group occurrence to nan now-abandoned facility.

“The infirmary wherever I activity successful Guanajuato isn’t nan only 1 that’s suffered this, nor americium I nan only expert who’s knowledgeable this. We spot successful nan news that these group are arriving astatine definite nationalist hospitals,” nan Guanajuato expert said, adding that “I tin opportunity that much colleagues person knowledgeable this. One lives pinch anxiety, and this shouldn’t beryllium normal for us.”

Due to nan beardown beingness of criminal groups, nan Guanajuato authorities constabulary person implemented operations successful clinics and hospitals successful respective municipalities of nan state, to forestall supplier cartels from continuing to infiltrate those places.

“When group injured pinch a firearm arrive, nan prosecutor’s agency sends america a custody request. When these group arrive, we coordinate to supply information astatine nan hospitals,” said Bernardo Cajero, head of nan Celaya constabulary and successful complaint of these information operations.

However, nan Guanajuato expert explained that though nan Silver Code has been established successful Mexico — a protocol that requires authorities to beryllium notified erstwhile location are episodes of unit aliases erstwhile a personification pinch a gunshot coiled arrives astatine a wellness halfway — this is not ever followed.

“They travel and return our cellphones, trim america disconnected from communication, and commencement threatening us, saying that if they spot thing strange, they could wounded america themselves,” nan expert said, pinch fearfulness successful his voice. “One of nan things they’re asking is that we not activate Code Silver and that we not notify nan authorities.”

'It affects america all'

Although location are nary charismatic figures connected equipped takeovers of wellness centers, nan Guanajuato lawsuit is not unsocial successful Mexico. In April 2024, a 10-person equipped group entered a backstage aesculapian halfway successful Cuernavaca and changeable and killed a diligent successful intensive care. In September, gunmen threatened unit astatine nan Mexican Social Security Institute successful Mazatlán pinch nan building “If they die, you die,” forcing them to attraction for their wounded. Two months later, 2 attacks were reported astatine nan Culiacán General Hospital.

“What nan supplier cartels do is return complete hospitals, kidnap nurses, doctors, specialists, humor banks, operating rooms, and immoderate other they need. They are infirmary centers wherever nan wounded are seen and treated, truthful they tin return to their criminal activities,” Saucedo said.

In 2022, a report by Insecurity Insight for nan Safeguarding Health successful Conflict Coalition — a group of nongovernmental organizations focused connected protecting wellness attraction — warned that Mexico had documented nan highest number of convulsive incidents against wellness attraction workers successful Latin America: astatine that time, 14 recorded incidents, including 3 deaths, 5 kidnappings, 2 destroyed aliases damaged aesculapian accommodation and a damaged aliases looted aesculapian unit.

“Before, they would time off their wounded successful clinics, but past they would beryllium vanished disconnected by rival groups,” Saucedo said, “now, for added security, galore supplier trafficking groups are mounting up backstage hospitals for themselves.”

Saucedo and different experts cited arsenic examples of this inclination nan complaints astir nan hospital built by nan leader of nan Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known arsenic “El Mencho,” and the mobile clinic group up by nan Sinaloa Cartel’s Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Researchers for illustration Correa-Cabrera pass that these incidents besides hap successful different countries experiencing awesome information crises, specified arsenic Haiti, Ecuador and nan Argentine metropolis of Rosario, aliases successful contexts of accepted warfare, specified arsenic nan conflicts successful Syria, Lebanon, Somalia and Libya, among others.

“This isn’t thing new; this is portion of immoderate equipped conflict, low-intensity conflict, aliases war,” Correa-Cabrera said, “because wellness attraction for members of these warring groups is very important.”

Meanwhile, nan Guanajuato expert says nan hostility generated by these incidents, successful which equipped groups participate hospitals, is sometimes truthful awesome that aesculapian unit petition picnic clip and psychological support.

“The first point is to prevention that person’s life, sloppy of nan business aliases nan accusations, because they are quality beings,” nan expert said, “but it affects america all; it tin origin trauma. In fact, location were colleagues who asked for their leave, and anyone would do that. It’s normal erstwhile you unrecorded pinch that each day.”

An earlier type of this communicative was first published successful Noticias Telemundo.