In his Sixth Government Report , the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, indicated that from September 1, 2023 to the last day of June 2024, the Strategy to combat robbery of motor transport and passengers on highways was implemented , which is defined as the implementation of “joint intelligence, investigation and prosecution actions to combat the crime of robbery of motor transport with the aim of providing protection, security and road assistance to people who travel daily on the country’s road network,” the document reads.
There it was stated that in the cited period the number of anti-assault operational actions, as well as security and protection operations, increased by 78%, this in comparison with the period from September 2022 to June 2023. However, when comparing the data published in the Fifth Government Report, the figures revealed that this increase was actually 51.2 percent .
Between September 2023 and June 2024, “12,310 anti-assault operations and 3,254 passenger vehicle inspections were carried out, as well as 21,701 security and protection operations,” meaning that 34,265 operations were carried out during the aforementioned period .
In turn, the figures that the executive published from September 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 indicated: “2,484 anti-assault operations were carried out, 707 for the inspection of passenger vehicles and 13,528 security and protection operations for private vehicles and motor transport”, a total of 16,719 actions.
It should be noted that, compared to the data that the president reported in his Fifth Government Report, this year there was no specialized section dedicated to cargo transportation, so it is not known with certainty how many of the “21,701 security and protection operations” were focused on the protection of the sector .
Although the increase in anti-assault operations, as well as security and protection operations, has doubled, it is important to note that the statistical reports of the National Association of Vehicle Tracking and Protection Companies (ANERPV) detailed that from September 2022 to June 2023, 1,373 thefts of cargo vehicles were reported on the road network, mostly concentrated in the State of Mexico.
In turn, the data provided by ANERPV during the period from September 2023 to June 2024 reported the theft of 1,415 cargo vehicles. It should be noted that from September 2023 to April 2024, the State of Mexico ranked first in crime, however, as of May this entity was overtaken by Puebla, where the highest crime rate is currently concentrated.
The aforementioned data show that from September 2022 to June 2023 vs. September 2023 to June 2024, there has been a 2.9% increase in theft from cargo transport, which shows that the Strategy to combat theft from transport and passengers on roads has not been effective in reducing crime.
Immediate Alert Centers
López Obrador’s Sixth Government Report also referred to the actions undertaken through the Immediate Alert Centers (CAI) , an initiative promoted since 2019 by the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation (Canacar) that aims to prevent cargo theft. “Focused actions were established on the country’s road network to address the incidence of theft from cargo transportation,” the document reads.
The report detailed that, from September 2023 to June 2024, 430 alerts for cargo theft were attended to, which led to the recovery of 225 units, “which translates into 52.3% effectiveness,” the Executive stated in the document.
However, in this area, the Fifth Government Report detailed that “562 alerts of cargo theft were received from different parts of the national territory , with a recovery of 343 units, which translates into 61% effectiveness.”
The above indicates that between the periods mentioned there was a 30.6% reduction in alerts through the country’s CAI, with a decrease in effectiveness, with 118 fewer units recovered.
