The relative calm that prevailed in Zacatecas is beginning to show signs of breaking down. The state, governed by Morena’s David Monreal, is once again becoming the scene of episodes of violence that concern its 1.6 million residents and revive fears that the days of abandoned bodies, shootouts, murders, and disappearances could return.
Considered a strategic territory for drug trafficking and other criminal activities, such as extortion, Zacatecas is caught in a dispute between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel.
“Zacatecas’ location has become its curse. Its connections with other states and the important highways that cross the area make it part of the illicit objectives of both the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel. However, neither cartel has achieved total supremacy there,” states an analysis by the Insight Crime organization.
Although Zacatecas has faced a security crisis since 2007, violence intensified between 2020 and 2023, to the point that the state came close to recording 2,000 homicides per month.
Intentional Homicides in Zacatecas
Annual Evolution of Victims and Violence Trend Phases (2018–2025)
QUADRANT I: HIGH PLATEAU
High Volume and Transition (2022–2023)
QUADRANT II: RAPID INCREASE
Rapid Escalation of Violence (2019–2021)
QUADRANT III: BASE LEVEL
Starting Period with Lower Figures (2018)
QUADRANT IV: CONTRACTION
Drastic and Historic Decline (2024–2025)
| Year | Intentional Homicide Victims |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 561 |
| 2019 | 510 |
| 2020 | 789 |
| 2021 | 1,134 |
| 2022 | 981 |
| 2023 | 1,051 |
| 2024 | 369 |
| 2025 | 114 |
Source: Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System. Data corresponding to the annual historical period analyzed [1].
2025 was one of the most peaceful years for the state, with 114 intentional homicides, which appeared to distance it from the climate of violence that had plagued the state in previous years, such as 2022, when 981 violent deaths were reported.
One of the episodes of the “horror” that haunted Zacatecas occurred at the beginning of 2022, when a truck containing 10 bodies was abandoned in the Plaza de Armas in the capital, directly in front of the Government Palace.
On the afternoon of Sunday, August 30, a car bomb exploded at the police headquarters in the municipality of Ojocaliente, leaving 10 people injured, including two municipal police officers.
The Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office pointed to the CJNG as responsible and stated that the attack was a reaction to the arrest of an 18-year-old man, who was allegedly a hitman for the criminal organization.
At the end of August, two police officers from the Secretariat of Public Security were injured when the patrol vehicle they were traveling in was attacked with explosives.
Source: politica.expansion
