On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
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On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
Episode 19: Are Security Problems In Tijuana Scaring Away Nearshoring Investors?
The Modern Mexico Podcast
35 minutes 5 seconds
1 year ago
Episode 19: Are Security Problems In Tijuana Scaring Away Nearshoring Investors?
On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to Laura Calderon, the Executive Director of Justice in Mexico, a San Diego-based think tank.
In spite of persistently high levels of organized crime-related violence, Tijuana has become one of Mexico’s success stories when it comes to "nearshoring" investment.
The city has a thriving industrial sector that employs over a quarter of a million people.
Between 2016 and 2022 foreign aerospace, automotive, and electronics companies invested over 11 billion dollars in the state of Baja California where Tijuana is located.
Over 2,500 cargo trucks cross the border to the U.S. from Tijuana every day. The state of Baja California where Tijuana is located received $2.7 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023.
But, this economic success story has not catalyzed a significant improvement in the security dynamic in Tijuana.
Tijuana has earned a reputation as the most violent city in Mexico, and in terms of per capita homicides is often ranked as the most violent city in the world.
Tijuana recorded 10,725 murders during the first five years of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's time in office (2019-2023).
But, we don’t see evidence that powerful organized crime groups are trying to intimidate and extort foreign companies in Tijuana.
Only 12 cargo truck hijackings occurred in the entire state of Baja California in 2023. That’s a tiny figure in comparison to the thousands of hijacking incidents recorded in the industrial states of Puebla and Estado de Mexico in central Mexico.
Calderon says that she thinks crime in Tijuana affects nearshoring companies on a level of about "4 or 5 out of 10."
"The economy is still going. There is a lot of industry, what we call maquiladoras. I think they are designing strategies to create alliances with the local government and ensuring protection for their businesses," she says.
Criminal groups in Tijuana are not killing or kidnapping foreign executives, for instance.
Calderon says that if the security situation in Tijuana is going to improve, Mexico needs to work to improve the institutional capacity of police and prosecutors.
The Modern Mexico Podcast
On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
