Mexican drug war facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mexican drug war
Part of the war on drugs
The Mexican military detaining suspects in Michoacán, 2007
Date December 11, 2006 (2006-12-11) – present (18 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 2 days) Location Throughout Mexico, with occasional spillover across international borders into Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, and also into the Central and South American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Mexico Armed Forces National Guard (2019–present) Federal Police (2006–2019) State and municipal police forces Self-defense groups Consulting and training support by: United States through the Mérida Initiative Colombia through the National Police of Colombia Australia through the Australian Federal Police Canada through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP) Philippines through the National Bureau of Investigation Guerrilla groups: Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)	Mexican cartels: Sinaloa Cartel CJNG LNFM Los Viagras Weakened and defunct cartels: Gulf Cartel Los Metros LFM CSRL Los Zetas Juárez Cartel Tijuana Cartel Cárteles Unidos La Barredora La Unión Tepito Milenio Cartel (2006–2010) BLO (2006–2017) CIDA (2010–2014) Knights Templar Cartel (2011–2017)
Commanders and leaders
Felipe Calderón (2006–2012) Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–present) Guillermo Galván (2006–2012) Salvador Cienfuegos (2012–2018) Luis Cresencio Sandoval (2018–present) Mariano Francisco Saynez (2006–2012) Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz (2012–2018) José Rafael Ojeda (2018–present)	"El Mayo" (incarcerated) "El Chapo" (incarcerated) "El Vicentillo" (incarcerated ) "El Chapito" "El Ratón" (incarcerated) "El Güero" (incarcerated) "El Coss" (incarcerated) "El Viceroy" (incarcerated) "El Ingeniero" (incarcerated) "La Tuta" (incarcerated) "El Chango" (incarcerated) "El Tío" (incarcerated) "El General" (incarcerated) "El Grande" (incarcerated) "La Barbie" (incarcerated) "La Jefa" "El Teo" (incarcerated) "El Ingeniero" (incarcerated) "El Z-40" (incarcerated) "El Z-42" (incarcerated) "El L-50" (incarcerated) "El Goyo" (incarcerated) "El Mencho" "El 85" (incarcerated) "El Cuini" (incarcerated) "El Menchito" (incarcerated) "El Tony Montana" (incarcerated) "El Marro" (incarcerated)
Strength
Mexico 368,000 police officers 277,000 Soldiers 107,000 National Guard members 23,300 Self-defense group 9,000 Guerrillas group	Cartels: 100,000+ individuals
Casualties and losses
Mexico: 743 servicemen killed and 137 missing 4,038 federal, state, and municipal police killed 66 members of the Policía Comunitaria killed EPR: 2 EPR members killed	Cartels: 12,456 cartel members killed (2006–2010) 121,199 cartel members detained (2006–2009) 8,500 cartel members convicted (2006–2010)
Total casualties: 41,034 dead in war conflicts between identified parties from 2006–2020 (total 350,000–400,000 dead from organized crime homicides from 2006–2022) 60,000+ missing (2020)

The Mexican drug war is an ongoing conflict in Mexico. It is mainly between the Mexican government and powerful groups involved in illegal activities. These groups are often called cartels. This conflict has caused a lot of fighting, problems with trust in government, and big changes in society.

The conflict officially started in December 2006. At that time, President Felipe Calderón sent the military to fight against the violence caused by these groups. The government wanted to break up these powerful organizations that had grown strong across the country.

President Calderón's plan was to use thousands of soldiers to directly fight the groups. Some people have said that this approach, using the military, actually made the fighting worse. Later presidents have continued this strategy with different levels of success.

In December 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the "war on drugs" was over. However, fighting has continued, and the number of killings remains high. Critics say that simply saying the war is over does not fix the main problems causing the conflict.

What Happened After the Conflict Started

The conflict has made problems with trust in government and police worse. Many officials have been influenced by these powerful groups. This makes it harder for people to trust their leaders.

The fighting has caused a lot of suffering for regular people. Many have had to leave their homes, and many lives have been lost. A large number of people have also disappeared in Mexico since the conflict began. Experts believe that over 431,000 people have died. Tens of thousands more are missing. By 2013, it was thought that at least 120,000 people had died because of the conflict.

See also