US-Mexico border security report, January 2025

Date Posted: 19-Mar-2025
Author: Tomas Pacheco, UK

Key points

• Between December 2022 and November 2024, of all drugs seized at the US-Mexico border, 54% was methamphetamine, 22% marijuana, 12% cocaine, 9% fentanyl, and less than 0.5% heroin. Although seizures of methamphetamine and marijuana were prevalent, the type of drug that dominates seizures varies considerably between border sectors
• In January IED attacks continued in Tamaulipas. The secretary of public security of Tamaulipas confirmed at a press conference on 27 January that three IEDs had detonated on dirt roads near the Texas border in the previous two weeks, with no casualties reported. On 31 January La Jornada reported that two farmers had been killed by an IED in an agricultural field in the municipality of San Fernando. In an interview for the news outlet Telediario Tampico on 27 January the security spokesperson, Jorge Cuéllar Montoya, said that the IEDs are often left on roads after confrontations between organised crime groups, and denied that the OCGs were actively planting IEDs against civilians. On 27 January the government of Tamaulipas issued an alert to the population in the municipalities of Reynosa, Río Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando due to the presence of explosive devices, and on the same day authorities held an inter-agency operation to detect and deactivate IEDs on roads in northern Tamaulipas
• In Culiacán, Sinaloa, the inter-group conflict between two factions of the Cártel de Sinaloa, ongoing since September 2024, continued. Janes recorded over 120 violent events, including intentional homicides attacks on civilians and security forces, kidnappings, and attacks against Mexican social media influencers as well as the use of a light aircraft dropping leaflets with narco messages
• In January security forces arrested the alleged leader of the Los Demonios faction El Chavo Félix, who is also the son-in-law of Ismael Zambada (alias El Mayo Zambada), leader of the Cártel de Sinaloa-Mayo Zambada faction. Los Demonios is a drug smuggling faction of the CDS-MZ that operates primarily in the border city of Nogales, Sonora. The US Office of HSI first documented the group's existence in 2017, following a seizure of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin in Tucson, Arizona. It is unclear whether the arrest of El Chavo Félix will have a significant impact on the organisation's trafficking operations in Nogales

Drug seizures on US-Mexico border by US CBP

This report analyses quarterly drug seizures at the US-Mexico border, as reported by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Drug Seizure Statistics. It covers the period between December 2022 and November 2024 (with data updated on 14 January 2025).

Between December 2022 and November 2024, of all drugs seized at the US-Mexico border, 54% was methamphetamine, 22% marijuana, 12% cocaine, 9% fentanyl, and less than 0.5% heroin. Although seizures of methamphetamine and marijuana were prevalent, the type of drug that dominates seizures varies considerably between border sectors.

Baja California-California sector

Drug seizures along the Baja California-California border, December 2022 to November 2024

According to the large disparity in the volume of drugs seized at the border, there is a roughly even chance that the organised crime groups (OCGs) operating in this border region are more prone to be involved in methamphetamine trafficking and, to a lower extent, involved in trafficking marijuana, fentanyl, and cocaine. However, the level of confidence is low given that seizure data could also reflect the US authorities' current resource capabilities to seize certain types of narcotics over others.

The volumes of the types of drugs seized at the border match with the types of narcotics the OCGs active in this region of the border – Cártel de Sinaloa (CDS), Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Cártel de los Arellano Félix (CAF) – produce or import to traffic to the US and other countries.

For more information, please see US-Mexico border security report, January 2025.