Drug traffickers take control of health centers in certain regions of Mexico

Despite all his years of experience and technical training, the doctor’s voice trembled when he recalled how the organized crime groups took control of emergency rooms and medical facilities in some parts of Mexico.

“They force us to enter through threatening telephone calls, in the early hours of the morning, and they tell us:” We are only a few meters from where you live and that you are with your family. If you are not treating this person, we will pick you up here, “said the doctor, who works in a health center in Guanajuato, in central Mexico, and who asked for the full anonymity of the recovery.

In many regions of Mexico, organized crime attacks affected hospitals, even taking control of operating rooms and emergency rooms, where wage killers kidnap medical staff to force them to treat the wounded in the frequent clashes they put with other cartels.

The doctor interviewed by Noticias Telemundo in Guanajuato said that at one occasion, he had been contacted in the early hours by a high -ranking local drug agent, who made an unusual request.

“I received a call asking for a person who had been shot down by a firearm. And they arrived at the main entrances to hospitals with long cannons, demanding treatment for their patient,” said the doctor. On several occasions, said the doctor, the cartel of the new generation of Jalisco forced him to use his equipment to treat the hitmen.

Noticias Telemundo confirmed that the local boss and the hitman whose life was saved later died in a confrontation with the Mexican army. For the safety of the doctor interviewed in Guanajuato, their names are retained.

According to the United Nations International Narcotics Control CouncilCartels and criminal groups continue to contribute to the high levels of violence in Mexico.

“Organized crime continues to be a key player in the life of Mexicans. Noticias Telumundo.

So far, official data Shows that from September 2024 to April 2025, there was a decrease of 32.9% of the daily average of intentional homicide victims, going from 86.9 victims per day to 58.3.

However, The disappearances have increased Significantly: in the first 100 days of the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum, 4,010 disappearances were recorded, an average of 40 per day, compared to the figure of 25 recorded during the previous six -year quarter.

“There are many disappeared people who, in reality, have already been kidnapped by drug traffickers and buried in so-called Narco-Graves,” said David Saucedo, security analyst based in Mexico City. “The cartels hide the bodies, and that is why we see a reduction in homicides in several states across the country. But it is not that there are fewer deaths; there are fewer bodies. They hide the bodies,” said saucedo.

‘It shouldn’t be normal’

According to the latest Mexican government report, Guanajuato is the state with the most (980 of January to April 2025). In February 2025, the daily average reached 12.5. Last year, the National survey on victimization and perception of public security revealed that 87.5% of the population considered public security as the most serious problem of the state.

“In Guanajuato, the Cartel of Santa Rosa of Lima is competing for drug trafficking with the cartel of Jalisco New Generation, and that generates a lot of violence,” said Correa-Cabrera. “These groups of organized crimes are fighting for the control of spaces because they need more street space, there are more quarrels, which leads to more injuries and deaths, so they take control of medical centers.”

Noticias Telemundo went to Guanajuato to document the case of a health center in the city of Cesya, where injured drug traffickers were treated. According to an intelligence report by the State, up to three years ago, the Santa Rosa Cartel of Lima used the San Fermín clinic to treat its injured hitmen. However, In November 2022Men armed with the cartel of the new generation of Jalisco killed two men there and set fire to the now abandoned installation.

“The hospital where I work in Guanajuato is not the only one to have suffered from this, and I am not the only doctor who has experienced this. We see in the news that these people arrive in certain public hospitals,” said the doctor of Guanajuato, adding that “I can say that more colleagues have experienced this. One lives with anxiety, and that should not be normal for us.”

Due to the strong presence of criminal groups, the Guanajuato State police implemented operations in clinics and hospitals from several state municipalities, in order to prevent drug cartels from continuing to infiltrate these places.

“When people injured with a firearm arrive, the prosecutor’s office sends us a request for a childcare. When these people arrive, we coordinate to ensure the security of hospitals,” said Bernardo Cajero, Director of Police in Ceyya and responsible for these security operations.

However, the doctor of Guanajuato explained that although the Silver code was created in Mexico – a protocol that obliges the authorities to be informed in the event of episodes of violence or when a person suffering from a ball injury arrives in a health center – it is not always followed.

“They come to take our mobile phones, cut us off and start threatening us, saying that if they saw something strange, they could hurt us themselves,” said the doctor, with fear in his voice. “One of the things they ask for is that we do not carry out the silver code and that we do not swallow the authorities.”

‘That affects us all’

Although there are no official figures on armed control of health centers, the Guanajuato affair is not unique in Mexico. In April 2024, a Armed group of 10 people Entering a private medical center in Cuernavaca and killed and killed a patient in intensive care. In SeptemberArmed men threatened the staff of the Mexican Social Security Institute of Mazatlán with the expression “if he die, you will die”, forcing them to take care of their wounded. Two months later, two attacks were reported at the Culiacán General Hospital.

“What drug cartels are doing is taking charge of hospitals, kidnapic nurses, doctors, specialists, blood banks, operating rooms and everything they need. These are hospital centers where the wounded are seen and treated, so that they can return to their criminal activities, “said saucedo.

In 2022, a report By information on insecurity for Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition – A group of non -governmental organizations focused on health care – warned that Mexico had documented the most violent incidents against health workers in Latin America: at that time, 14 recorded incidents, including three deaths, five kidnappings, two damaged or launched medical unit.

“Before, they would leave their wounded in the clinics, but they would be finished by rival groups,” said saucedo, “now, for more security, many drug trafficking groups create private hospitals for themselves.”

Saucedo and other experts have cited as examples of this trend Hospital built by The head of the cartel of the new generation of Jalisco, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” and The mobile clinic Installed by Ismael “El Mayo” of Sinaloa Cartel “El Mayo”.

Researchers like Correa-Cabrera warn that these incidents also occur in other countries that are experiencing major security crises, such as Haiti, the Ecuador and the Argentine city of Rosario, or in conventional wars, such as conflicts in Syria, Lebanon, Somalia and Libya, among others.

“It is not something new; this is part of any armed conflict, a low intensity or war conflict,” said Correa-Cabrera, “because health care for the members of these groups at war are very important.”

Meanwhile, the doctor of Guanajuato claims that the tension generated by these incidents, in which armed groups enter hospitals, is sometimes so great that medical staff are asking for vacation and psychological support.

“The first thing is to save the life of this person, whatever the situation or accusations, because they are human beings,” said the doctor, “but that affects us all; it can cause trauma. In fact, there were colleagues who asked for their leave, and anyone would do it. It is normal when you live with it every day.”

An earlier version of this story was published for the first time in Noticias Telemundo.