Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 - Mexico

Overview: Counterterrorism cooperation between the Mexican and U.S. governments remained strong. There are no known international terrorist organizations operating in Mexico, no evidence that any terrorist group has targeted U.S. citizens in Mexican territory, and no credible information that any member of a terrorist group has traveled through Mexico to gain access to the United States. In December 2016, Mexican government officials observed on social media an increase in terrorist group sympathizers in its territory over the previous year. The Governments of Mexico and the United States are analyzing this information.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Mexico has a legal framework for the investigation and prosecution of terrorism and related crimes, including a special prosecutorial unit within the Office of the Attorney General dedicated to such investigations, which pursues open terrorism cases. However, some challenges remain. For instance, joint investigations with the Government of Mexico involve violations under "material support to terrorism" laws, but there was no legal instrument in Mexico to charge individuals with that specific crime in 2016.

The Government of Mexico continued to work towards full implementation of an accusatorial justice system, with varying levels of application across Mexico's 32 states. All states transitioned to the new system before the June 18, 2016 national deadline; however, experts believe full implementation could take a decade or more as Mexico continues its efforts to change its legal culture, law school system, evidentiary standards, courtrooms, and police training. The United States continues to support the transition through the Merida Initiative.

Since 2014, Mexico's border security enforcement capabilities have increased in focus and effectiveness along its southern border to address the surge of migrants from Central America. There has also been an increase in migrants from beyond the region attempting to enter Mexico through its southern border. Mexico's border enforcement efforts are shared among Federal Police, military authorities, and customs and immigration agencies, the latter of which has primary authority to interdict irregular migrants. Corruption sometimes hinders the effectiveness of enforcement efforts.

Counterterrorism monitoring is carried out in airports and at migration stations through a constant review of regular and irregular people flows. Mexican authorities analyze passenger lists against name matches from international organizations and intelligence agencies. Whenever a profile coincides with risk lists, Mexico initiates the alert process. In the case of an INTERPOL Red Notice, the authorities are notified. In other cases they could be denied entry or returned to their country of origin.

The National Institute of Migration (INM) collects and disseminates passenger information for persons who raise terrorism concerns and incorporates INTERPOL watchlists into its database. INM collects limited biographic and biometric data at ports of entry and migration stations.

Mexican and U.S. law enforcement agencies coordinate closely regarding persons who raise terrorism concerns. This primarily involves individuals encountered at the immigration detention facility in Tapachula, Chiapas, and also at international airports. The Government of Mexico is receptive to counterterrorism training opportunities and equipment donations. Mexican officials have the investigative, operational, and tactical skills needed for counterterrorism work due, in part, to frequent counternarcotic operations.

Mexican security agencies track open-source reports, and most recently investigated media reports that terrorist training camps existed in Mexico. In each instance, the media reports were found to be unsubstantiated.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Mexico is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the Financial Action Task force of Latin America, a FATF-style regional body (FSRB). Mexico has observer or cooperating status in the following FSRBs: the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, and the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures. Mexico's financial intelligence unit (FIU), Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera, is a member of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units and proactively shares financial intelligence on shared threats with its U.S. counterpart, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The Government of Mexico and financial services entities cooperate on terrorist financing legislation and regulations. For example, Mexico established an asset freezing regime that automatically and immediately incorporates listings under the UN Security Council ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qa'ida sanctions regime into its domestic FIU-issued list.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Countering Violent Extremism: Mexico is beginning to take preventive actions to detect subjects who promote, favor, or facilitate violent Islamist extremism. Mexico also works to detect violent extremist propaganda on the internet.

International and Regional Cooperation: Mexico participates in the Organization of American States Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, which adopted a declaration on "Protection of Critical Infrastructure from Emerging Threats."