On the last day of 2024, the Decree amending the second paragraph of article 19 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, regarding pretrial detention , was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation .
Thus, from the first minute of 2025, Article 19 of the Constitution dictates that the Public Prosecutor’s Office may request the judge to pretrial detention when there is a crime of extortion , a fact that has a significant impact on the continuity and development of the country’s transportation companies.
Let us remember that according to the National Business Victimization Survey (ENVE) 2024, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) , transporting products on roads was the activity in which the economic activities surveyed expressed the most insecurity, with 52.2%, this perception experienced an increase of 2.2 percentage points compared to 2023.
The document detailed that extortion was the most common crime committed nationwide, with a recurrence in 18 federal entities . With a crime prevalence rate of 1,562 per 10,000 economic units.
On several occasions and for several years, the National Chamber of Cargo Transport (Canacar) has stressed the need to strengthen actions against the crime of extortion . It is enough to remember that at the last National Convention of the Chamber, Miguel Ángel Martínez Millán, national president of the organization, said “we are not as plagued by the theft of a vehicle as by someone arriving at the doors of the company demanding an amount or by taking personnel or kidnapping them.”
Now, with the official preventive detention of criminals who commit extortion, cargo transportation could have safer operations and reduce its operating costs.
It is important to note that the issue has also been considered by the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United Mexican States (Concamin) , recently Alejandro Malagón, president of the organization, emphasized the urgency of solving the problem.
“We have to put an end to the theft of goods, threats and extortion, we demand an end to insecurity and impunity. There is no safe Mexico without safe roads, no more drivers can be harmed,” said Malagón.
It should be noted that last year, on multiple occasions, communication routes were blocked by some transporters, not affiliated with Canacar, to demand an increase in road safety, as well as the cessation of extortion by organized crime and by certain authorities who, under the pretext of non-compliance with regulations or standards, demand payments outside the law.
