Mexico cargo theft drops 21%, but highway violence against drivers surges

Cargo theft investigations in Mexico fell 21% during the first five months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, dropping to 2,099 cases from 2,653, according to Mexico's Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System. Yet trucking industry leaders say the improvement masks a darker trend: at least 14 commercial drivers have been killed in highway attacks so far this year as criminal groups shift toward increasingly violent tactics. Canacar, Mexico's National Freight Chamber of Commerce, reported that robberies overall declined 17%, but violence within those incidents has risen sharply. Nearly 13,000 violent cargo robberies occurred from January through May, down 16% from the previous year, yet criminal groups are now using firearms and opening fire on trucks rather than forcing vehicles to stop. Norberto Limón, Canacar's delegate in Veracruz, told local media that security remains the biggest issue facing the industry. Canacar President Augusto Ramos Melo echoed that concern during a recent report, calling the surge in robbery violence "a trigger that, as a sector, we cannot allow to continue." Canacar represents roughly 250,000 transportation companies and says the trucking sector moves about 80% of Mexico's domestic and export freight. For cross-border carriers and Mexican truckers, the data suggests that while the odds of cargo theft have improved, the risk of driver injury or death during an attack has intensified.