Ambushes and Corruption: The Hellish Landscape of Transporters in Mexico

In Mexico, suffering from assaults is only the beginning of torture for transporters; recovering cargo units is impossible.

“Get off quickly!” is heard over and over again in the video recorded from the cabin of a tractor-trailer. A group of hooded and armed men surround the driver, force him to get off and point a gun at his back. While they move him away from the road, other subjects board the truck, turn it on and steal it before the camera that continues recording.

This assault on a truck driver occurred last Friday, February 21, on the Veracruz-Puebla highway, on the La Esperanza stretch, an area well known for these crimes.

A perfectly orchestrated ambush

The assailants left nothing to chance. They set up a fake roadblock with construction signs, placed several armed men on the sides of the highway and blocked the lane with a truck. Their objective: to steal four units transporting corn from Chiapas to Puebla.

“When the trucks began to pass, they opened fire. Some managed to escape, but one was detained. The video clearly shows how they are taken down with long guns,” said Raquel Gordillo, Canacar delegate in Chiapas.

The driver was beaten, but not seriously injured. A colleague behind the victim rescued him and, thanks to the GPS of the stolen unit, they began to track the trailer.

The criminals tried to hide the unit in a field. Videos show how several assailants open the door for them, but the truck gets stuck. In a desperate attempt, they unhitched one trailer and tried to move forward with the other half, but again they got stuck. Finally, they fled and abandoned the unit. But the story doesn’t end there.

Recovering a trailer: an almost impossible mission

Although the truck was located, the owners haven’t been able to recover it.

“The National Guard and the Municipal Police arrived. Our driver identified himself and we asked for the delivery of the truck, but they wouldn’t allow it. They began to ask for money to release it. They know that the tow trucks charge exorbitant rates”, denounced Gordillo.

Currently, the unit is still being held at a junkyard in Puebla, generating additional costs every day.

“The problem is that, first, you have to deal with the authorities, and then with the haulers, who charge between 100 and 200,000 pesos for moving a truck just five kilometers,” he added.

Red zones for truckers

Cargo truck theft is not exclusive to Veracruz or Puebla. In Tecamachalco, Puebla, criminals take the trucks and leave the cargo, then dismantle them afterwards and sell them in junkyards.

“We have had three units stolen so far this year. They only take the tractor-trailers,” said Gordillo.

In Tlaxcala, on the Huamantla stretch, history repeats itself. One of the most recent assaults occurred on December 8. And on the Veracruz-Perote highway, criminals have set their sights on coffee transports, due to the high price of coffee beans.

Alarming figures: cargo transport robbery continues unabated

In January 2025 alone, 554 robberies of carriers were recorded nationwide, 460 of which involved violence.

While the numbers are rising, transporters continue to face not only criminals on the road, but also the paperwork, payments and corruption that further complicate the recovery of their units.

Source: E Veracruz Mx