Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 - Mexico

Overview: Cooperation between the Mexican and U.S. governments on counterterrorism remained strong in 2015. In the wake of the Paris attacks, Mexican officials reaffirmed their commitment to counterterrorism measures. There are no known international terrorist organizations operating in Mexico, and there is no evidence that any terrorist group has targeted U.S. citizens in Mexican territory.

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.

The Government of Mexico continued to work towards meeting its June 2016 deadline to transition from an inquisitorial to an accusatorial justice system. All of Mexico's 31 states and the Federal District have begun to transition to the accusatory criminal justice system. As of November 2015, eight states have transitioned to the new criminal justice system for crimes under federal jurisdiction and six have done so at the state level.

Mexican government agencies collaborated well with U.S. law enforcement agencies on legal action against persons who raise terrorism concerns. 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 their frequent counter-narcotics operations.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of State's Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) training program, and other U.S. counterterrorism efforts, trained Mexican Federal Police, the Attorney General's Office representatives, and Customs and Immigration officials, among other authorities.

Mexico's border security enforcement capabilities continued to be focused at the U.S.-Mexico border and have increased apprehensions of undocumented migrants along its southern border with Guatemala. 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 migrants. Corruption sometimes hinders the effectiveness of enforcement efforts. The National Institute of Migration adequately collects and disseminates passenger information for persons of interest and incorporates INTERPOL watchlists into their database.

Mexican security agencies track open-source reports claiming that terrorist training camps existed in Mexico, most recently in April 2015. In each instance, the media reports have been found to be unsubstantiated.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Mexico belongs to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Financial Action Task Force in Latin America, and is a supporting nation of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, a FATF-style regional body. Its Financial Intelligence Unit is a member of the Egmont Group. In 2014, Mexico passed several amendments to existing legislation to counter the financing of terrorism. The amendments criminalized terrorism financing, created an exception to rules governing the dissemination of third-party fiscal data to comply with new terrorism financing laws, and sanctioned the immediate freezing of terrorist accounts and the seizure of terrorist assets based on both Mexican and international intelligence. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Countering Violent Extremism: Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong represented the Government of Mexico at The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in Washington, DC, in February. The Government of Mexico sent a representative to the July 2015 follow-on meeting in Rome.

International and Regional Cooperation: Mexico participates in the Organization of American States' Inter-American Committee against Terrorism. Additionally in 2015, the Government of Mexico expressed interest in hosting a Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism multilateral training exercise in 2016.