{
  "id": "ACM-MEX-DRG",
  "slug": "mexico-drug-war",
  "title": "The Mexican Drug War",
  "url": "https://armedconflicts.org/mexico-drug-war.html",
  "status": "Active",
  "intensity": "High",
  "region": "North America",
  "type": "Criminal conflict",
  "tracked_since": "2006",
  "revision": "2026-08-05",
  "sources": [
    "ACLED",
    "UCDP",
    "CFR Global Conflict Tracker"
  ],
  "locations": [
    {
      "name": "Mexico City",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 19.4326,
      "lon": -99.1332,
      "description": "Capital of Mexico and seat of the federal government directing national security policy against organized crime."
    },
    {
      "name": "Culiacan",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 24.8091,
      "lon": -107.394,
      "description": "Capital of Sinaloa state and the historic home base of the Sinaloa Cartel."
    },
    {
      "name": "Guadalajara",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 20.6597,
      "lon": -103.3496,
      "description": "Capital of Jalisco state, the region long associated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led for years by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ('El Mencho')."
    },
    {
      "name": "Tijuana",
      "type": "border",
      "lat": 32.5149,
      "lon": -117.0382,
      "description": "Border city opposite San Diego and one of the world's busiest land border crossings, a longtime smuggling corridor into the United States."
    },
    {
      "name": "Ciudad Juarez",
      "type": "border",
      "lat": 31.6904,
      "lon": -106.4245,
      "description": "Border city opposite El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point that saw some of Mexico's worst cartel-related violence in the late 2000s and early 2010s."
    },
    {
      "name": "Acapulco",
      "type": "port",
      "lat": 16.8531,
      "lon": -99.8237,
      "description": "Pacific resort port in Guerrero state; surrounding mountain areas of the state saw cartel attacks displace hundreds of families in 2026."
    },
    {
      "name": "Nuevo Laredo",
      "type": "border",
      "lat": 27.4764,
      "lon": -99.5164,
      "description": "Border city opposite Laredo, Texas, and Mexico's busiest land freight crossing, long contested as a trafficking corridor."
    },
    {
      "name": "Puerto Vallarta",
      "type": "port",
      "lat": 20.6534,
      "lon": -105.2253,
      "description": "Pacific coast resort city in Jalisco that saw coordinated arson, roadblocks, and lockdowns in a wave of retaliatory cartel violence in February 2026."
    }
  ],
  "revision_history": [
    {
      "date": "2026-08-05",
      "change": "Headlines refreshed",
      "source": "News feed"
    }
  ]
}