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Cargo Truck Hijacking Is Becoming A Major Problem In Mexico

This issue of cargo truck hijacking has become a major news story in Mexico after several local trucking chambers organized protests, blockading multiple highways in different parts of the country on February 15, 2024.

Ernesto Flores, the Vice Chairman of the AMOTAC chamber explained, “The authorities [in Mexico] haven’t not done enough to stop highway crime and it’s affecting us a lot. [Criminals] assault our trucks and they aren’t satisfied with taking the vehicle, taking the merchandise, they are killing us, the drivers. Crime is very strong.” From El Universal. 

One truck parked by the road during the protest had a banner that read “NO MORE KILLING DRIVERS!”

The Reliance Partners Mexico Cargo Truck Hijacking Data Portal, which compiles data released by Mexico’s federal government, shows that the area around Mexico City is the epicenter of the cargo truck hijacking problem in Mexico.

In terms of hijacking risk, the worst state in the country is Estado de Mexico, which surrounds Mexico City.

In 2023, Estado de Mexico recorded 3,634 violent cargo truck hijackings, nearly half of the total number of hijacking incidents Mexico recorded for the year.

Mexico’s CONCAMIN business chamber estimates that over 85,000 hijackings have occurred during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s first five years in office.

La Jornada mentions in January, 2024 a truck driver was killed during a hijacking in Tlalnepantla in Estado de Mexico on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Foreign executives planning logistics operations in Mexico need to be aware of the risk of cargo truck hijacking and take steps to protect their personnel and property.