Extortion, the crime that seems to be resisted, has received a significant blow this Wednesday. The Security Cabinet has announced the arrest of 102 people (25 Mexicans and 77 foreigners) and 192 properties, which functioned as call centers and loan centers y They were located in the State of Mexico, during Operation Disconnection, framed in the National Strategy against Extortion. According to the information shared, computer equipment, phones, chips and cash that are linked to fraud and drug dealing were also seized.
According to information from local authorities, the way of working This type of extortion ring involves manipulating victims into sharing their personal information and then coercing them to make a profit. They also posed as financial entities to force them to make bank transfers. The loan centers that were intervened made loans with very high interest rates that made payment impossible.
The Government has highlighted that these actions allow “combat indirect extortion schemes through calls and messages, as well as ‘drop by drop’ loans.” This crime, which shakes all sectors of the population – from a humble worker to businessmen – is one of the great challenges of the Executive, which led Claudia Sheinbaum last year to recognize that there was still work to be done on this issue. during the presentation of a law to combat this crime. According to official data, between 2019 and 2025, extortions have increased by 23.1%. Added to this scenario is the fact that there is a large number of unreported cases.
Operation Disconnection, which was announced this Wednesday, had the participation of elements from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, the Attorney General’s Office and the National Guard. In addition, it was carried out in coordination with the Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Mexico and the local Security Secretariat. The actions lasted 46 days and sought to “break into ‘abusive lending’ schemes” that take place through phone calls, text messages, websites and other applications, according to the Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Mexico.
In an attempt to eradicate this major headache, the Government announced in June last year a general law that prosecutes this crime ex officio, without the need for a prior complaint, and establishes up to 42 years in prison for offenders. The legislation, which was approved in December, . “Extortion was associated with a state crime and depended on a citizen’s complaint. What the modification does is: first, it also involves it as a federal crime that can be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office, and makes it a crime that is prosecuted ex officio and that has a greater penalty,” Sheinbaum explained during the National Security Council last year.
