Mexico has made thousands of arrests and seized tens of thousands of pounds of illegal drugs, numbers that its embassy is emphasizing as President Donald Trump pressures the country to step up its border crackdown.
Since Trump levied 25% tariffs on Mexico in February, citing cross-border crime, Mexico has sought to highlight its cooperation with the United States, and on Friday shared statistics on how it has addressed the smuggling of narcotics and migrants into the country.
The Mexican government has arrested more than 7,100 suspects since early February, the embassy reported, as well as seized 5,541 guns and 980,000 rounds of ammunition; taken custody of 4,768 vehicles and 861 properties; and interdicted 208,000 pounds of drugs, including 850 pounds of fentanyl.
“Mexico’s Security Cabinet continues to deliver consistent results in the fight against organized crime through Operation Northern Border. During the period reported, coordinated actions led to major arrests, seizures of firearms, ammunition, narcotics, vehicles, and dismantling of synthetic drug facilities,” the Mexican Embassy said in a statement.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the seizures are the result of the country’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on cartels, with the State Department announcing in September additional security cooperation to target organized crime.
“President Trump has followed through on his promises to secure the southern border and end the flow of illicit drugs into our homeland,” Kelly said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “His successful strategy includes coordinating with the Mexican government to root out corruption and resolve security issues that threaten American citizens.”
On Feb. 1, Trump issued an executive order that threatened to institute a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico. Hours before the tariffs were set to go into place, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would work with the White House to address border security and crime. Trump ended up imposing the 25% tariffs, but he has held back from higher duties as the two countries negotiate a trade deal.
The crackdown is part of Sheinbaum’s pledge to stop drugs and people from being smuggled to the U.S. Since Trump took office, the number of people illegally crossing the border has dropped from the spike under President Joe Biden to 60-year lows since February.
In Mexico’s Sinaloa state, where the Sinaloa Cartel has a stronghold, police and the military have dismantled four synthetic drug storage facilities and $63 million worth of methamphetamine and its precursor ingredients.
In Chihuahua, authorities seized six improvised explosive devices, while officials in the Sonoran state seized more than 200 packages of marijuana and 124 packages of meth.
The Mexican Embassy did not provide details on how the seizures and arrests compare to previous periods in national records.
Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow in the border security and immigration center at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said statistics without historical context make it difficult to know the significance of the seizures.
“What is the number of journalists who got killed this month compared to a year ago? Are there any reductions in the metrics that indicate that the Mexican government is gaining control over territory, or is this just an attempt to make it look like they’re making an effort to the Trump administration, which is not to say that they’re not making an effort, but is it actually making a difference in the amount of drugs coming into the U.S., the amount of Americans dying of drug overdoses, you know, things that really matter?” said Hankinson, who works for a conservative think tank.
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In relative terms, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that inspects people and goods at all U.S. border crossings and ports of entry, seized 573,000 pounds of drugs, including nearly 22,000 pounds of fentanyl, in fiscal 2024. The large majority of Mexico’s drug seizures were not fentanyl.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
