The stretch of the Mexico-Pachuca highway leading to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) is one of the routes most frequently used by criminals to commit robberies against truck drivers, according to information from the Transportation and Cement Workers Union.
The entrance and exit to the airport are located in the municipality of Tecámac, State of Mexico, and include a toll-free route. Although it’s only a few minutes’ drive for truck and tractor-trailer drivers, they have reported not only an increase in robberies but also a rise in violence perpetrated by criminals.
“There was theft before, but now it’s skyrocketed; there’s no security,” a member of the Transportation and Cement Workers Union told the Reforma newspaper, noting that while the government claims a decrease in crime, there are still numerous reports of incidents on the highway leading to the airport, one of the flagship projects of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
The statement by the Transportation and Cement Workers Union is reinforced by figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), which revealed that the municipalities traversed by the Mexico-Pachuca highway led the way in robberies against truck drivers during 2025.
In the case of Hidalgo, where the toll road begins, six municipalities have jurisdiction over it, as they pass through it either partially or entirely. In the State of Mexico, three municipalities have jurisdiction, and in Mexico City, where the highway ends after nearly 100 kilometers, only one of its boroughs is covered.
However, it is the State of Mexico, with only three municipalities, that concentrated the highest number of assaults on cargo drivers, with 588 in 12 months. Of these, 259 occurred in Ecatepec, 200 of which were non-violent, and 231 in Tlanepantla, 27 of which involved violence. And in Tecámac, 125 reports were filed.
The second most frequent robbery along the highway is in Hidalgo, with its six municipalities: Pachuca, Mineral de la Reforma, Singuilucan, Zapotlán, Tolcayuca, and Tizayuca. While there were no robberies in the second and third municipalities, the others each had 17. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, specifically in the Gustavo A. Madero borough, there were 8 robberies.
Just six days ago, on Tuesday, January 27, a violent robbery of a semi-truck stuck to a tanker trailer was reported in the municipality of Tizayuca, Hidalgo. The incident extended onto the Mexico-Pachuca highway, where a high-speed police chase ensued for several kilometers.
According to the account given at the time, a compact car occupied by two men intercepted the driver, violently pulled him from his vehicle, and detained him. An 18-year-old man got into the car and, despite attempting to flee, was apprehended at the turnoff near the AIFA (Felipe Ángeles International Airport).
Previously, in 2022, a nearly identical incident occurred, but instead of a container trailer, it was a dry van that had been stolen in Tecámac. A security checkpoint was set up at kilometer 22.5 of the Mexico-Pachuca highway, before the Ojo de Agua tollbooth, where the trailer overturned and came to a stop.
In 2021, four men were arrested for stealing a semi-trailer loaded with paper. While the theft originated in Tulancingo, the incident extended onto the toll road near the town of Matilde, in the municipality of Zempoala. The likely perpetrators said they were originally from Ecatepec, in the State of Mexico.
Source: lasillarota
