The Mexican government ordered 1,000 troops to the state of Michoacan in November 2025 in the latest effort to combat transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). The deployment — which brings the total number of troops in the south-central state to more than 10,000 — came after the murder of a mayor who opposed the criminal groups.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said, in addition to the military deployment, the government would invest $3 billion in the state to address poverty, unemployment, and other social and economic factors that undermine public safety and national security. “To all Michoacan (residents), we say: You are not alone, your president and the entire Mexican government support you,” she said on November 9, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Uruapan Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo was murdered by a 17-year-old gunman on November 1. The popular mayor had been an outspoken critic of TCO violence, extortion and impunity in his state. Michoacan has been at the center of the counter-TCO fight for decades. In 2007, evidence of cartel violence included dismembered heads left on nightclub floors and indiscriminate violence in the streets, a crisis which prompted then-President Carlos Salinas to send in troops. But the violence has continued. Last year, 1,000 people died in TCO violence, according to El País, a Spanish newspaper. The TCOs in Michoacan have used violence to gain control of the valuable avocado and citrus industries among a host of commercial operations. They also extort local businesses by levying a “derecho de piso” — or protection money — to operate.
Roughly 500 Soldiers will execute a containment strategy to keep TCOs from crossing into neighboring states like Guerrero and Jalisco, said Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo. The Soldiers will be equipped with explosive detection devices to place on roads between Jalisco and Michoacan, according to AP. A power struggle between the Jalisco Nueva Generation Cartel and Carteles Unidos, two TCOs designated as foreign terrorist organizations this year by the United States, has intensified the violence along state borders.
Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch said Mexico City will boost additional intelligence gathering resources in Michoacan to facilitate investigations and prosecutions of TCO members. “Those who generate violence, those who commit crimes, those who harm Michoacan families and the Mexican people will be investigated, arrested and taken before the law,” García Harfuch said, AP reported.
Sheinbaum, who took office a year ago, has pursued a tough policy against TCOs. Early in her term, security forces dismantled drug labs and captured large amounts of fentanyl. She has said fentanyl seizures have markedly decreased along the 3,145-kilometer border with the United States.