The Global Organized Crime Index 2025 has just published its ranking of 193 countries, and the results for Mexico are devastating: FIRST PLACE WORLDWIDE in criminal markets with 8.27 points, the highest score ever recorded, surpassing Myanmar, Colombia, and Iran.
But that’s not all. In overall crime, Mexico ranks THIRD WORLDWIDE with 7.68 points, behind only Myanmar (8.08) and Colombia (7.82). The country is ahead of Iran, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Russia, and virtually every other country on the planet.
The criminal markets that dominate in Mexico include:
- Synthetic drug trafficking (fentanyl and methamphetamine): world leaders for the U.S.
- Cocaine trafficking: 9.00 points, almost the maximum
- Human trafficking and sexual exploitation
- Mass extortion and kidnapping
- Arms trafficking
- Financial crimes and money laundering
- Environmental crimes (illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel theft)
The report confirms that the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG operate as TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS with business structures, a presence in prisons, and territorial control through violence, extortion, and the co-opting of entire communities.
Mexico’s institutional resilience ranks 111th out of 193 countries with only 4.50 points. The report warns about: - Widespread impunity
- Militarization of public security
- Criminal infiltration of institutions
- Corruption at all levels of government
- Concerns about the judicial reform that allows for the popular election of judges
The Mexican paradox: the government boasts of a “historic reduction” in homicides while international indices show that organized crime has never been so powerful, diversified, and sophisticated.
To put it in perspective: Mexico has surpassed countries in civil war, failed states, and nations with collapsing governments. The United States ranks 44th, Spain 49th, and other European countries are far below. Mexico is the epicenter of transnational crime.
The report describes the Mexican landscape as an “environment of structural criminality that directly challenges the rule of law.” The cartels don’t just traffic drugs: they control entire parallel economies.
Source: ontheroadinmexico
