Mexico’s New Law to Stop Extortion Nationwide

Mexico City — The Senate of the Republic has approved, with modifications, a decree project to issue the General Law for preventing, investigating, and punishing crimes related to extortion. The initiative was sent by President Claudia Sheinbaum on October 20 of this year.

The decree received a unanimous vote of 110 in favor in its general form. In its particular form, it was approved with 95 votes in favor and 12 against.

In addition to creating the new law, the reform modifies five federal legal codes to standardize the definition of the crime, its aggravating circumstances, related conduct, sanctions, and investigation protocols. The modified codes are the Federal Penal Code, the National Code of Criminal Procedures, the Federal Law Against Organized Crime, the National Asset Forfeiture Law, and the Organic Law of the Federal Judiciary.

Two key amendments were accepted during the process:

1. The inclusion of a gender perspective in victim assistance (articles 3, 33, and 41).
2. An express aggravation of the penalty when extortion is committed using any technological device or platform, including telephony, the internet, radio electricity, optical media, or electromagnetic systems.

The penalties were toughened compared to the original draft. The base sentencing range is now 15 to 25 years in prison, increased from the previous range of 6 to 15 years. Furthermore, public servants who fail to report extortion of which they have knowledge will face 10 to 20 years in prison.

Senator Enrique Inzunza Cázarez, president of the Commission for Legislative Studies, emphasized during the debate, "Extortion is a scourge that affects the economic activities of entire communities and especially violates the peace of families. Its expansion has been fueled by the use of communication technologies and by the corruption that has allowed prisons to become operational centers for this crime."

The reform obligates state prosecutors' offices to create specialized units with police, analysts, and certified, trained, and evaluated public prosecutors dedicated exclusively to investigating extortion. It also establishes permanent protection measures for victims, the aggrieved, and witnesses.

According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, 10,804 victims of extortion were registered in the country at the close of 2024. Currently, each state sanctions the crime differently, which has created gaps in impunity. With the new law, the federal government will define the modalities of the crime—such as telephone, digital, and in-person extortion—and establish homogeneous minimum and maximum penalties across the entire national territory.

Following its approval with changes, the decree has been returned to the Chamber of Deputies to continue the legislative process.