Disappearances Rose in Southeast Mexico During Tren Maya Construction

Mexico City — Missing person reports increased in southeastern Mexico during the construction and launch of the Tren Maya railroad, according to a report by Mexican news outlet Latinus.

The report found that between 2022, when construction began, and 2024, when the project’s various sections reopened, authorities recorded 2,740 disappearance reports in the states along the route.

Disappearances rose steadily over that period, particularly in Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Chiapas and Tabasco, all states linked to the rail development.

Latinus noted that the increase coincided temporally with the most intense years of construction, but the data does not establish a causal relationship between the project and the disappearances.

The analysis draws on official records of missing and unlocated persons and tracks how those numbers shifted during the main construction phase of the rail project.

Tren Maya was one of the previous federal administration’s flagship infrastructure projects, drawing workers, businesses and new residents to the Yucatán Peninsula and the wider southeast.

The growing number of disappearance reports adds a new element to evaluating the social and security effects of the region’s rapid expansion in recent years.