Mexico Looks to Crowd Sourcingto Address Extortion

Mexico City’s Citizens' Council has looked to mobile technology to address rampant extortion in the city. In February 2015, the council launched No Más Extorsiones (‘No more extortion’ or NoMásXT), a mobile phone application created to monitor incidents. Since its launch, the app has been inundated with reports and by the end of 2015, over 90,000 incidents, or more than 300 cases a day, had been reported. Relying on crowd sourcing, NoMásXT allows users to log suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts used by extortionists into a public database. The app then automatically warns users not to answer their phone when a call from one of these listed numbers is received. So far, the list has grown to include over 100,000 phone numbers and 11,000 bank accounts used by extortionists. By contrast, less than 4,500 extortion incidents were reported to state and federal security forces in the same period. 

Most extortion incidents in Mexico are traced back to state and federal prisons, where inmates dial random numbers, or in more sophisticated cases, glean their victim’s personal information from social media. With the help of apps like NoMásXT, Mexican nationals can identify and avoid these scams. While underreporting, tied to widespread distrust in security forces has long been a concern in the city, such grassroots efforts to combat extortion point to new levels of disillusionment with authorities. Despite taking a creative approach to addressing extortion in the city, the mobile app has not reduced the risks faced by commercial operations. Over the past year, reports that major drug cartels are operating extortion rackets in Mexico City, once considered an oasis in a country plagued by cartel violence, have emerged. 

In July 2015, for example, reports surfaced that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was extorting hotels, restaurants, bars, and other commercial premises in Roma and Condesa, two of the city’s trendiest neighbourhoods. Numerous business owners, acting on condition of anonymity, reported paying weekly extortion payments of 5,000 to 10,000 pesos (USD 300 to USD 600) to armed cartel members. Last year, at least three local business owners were killed in these neighbourhoods, presumably for refusing to pay extortion fees. 

Rather than addressing the problem, local authorities and even union leaders have denied the existence of extortion rackets in Mexico City. Miguel Ángel Mancera, the city’s mayor, also refuted a Drug Enforcement Administration report published in November 2015 that highlighted the “dominant presence” of five major drug cartels in Mexico City. With authorities seemingly oblivious to the problem or unwilling to act, commercial extortion is likely to continue unabated. 

Mexico City’s Citizens' Council has looked to mobile technology to address rampant extortion in the city. In February 2015, the council launched No Más Extorsiones (‘No more extortion’ or NoMásXT), a mobile phone application created to monitor incidents. Since its launch, the app has been inundated with reports and by the end of 2015, over 90,000 incidents, or more than 300 cases a day, had been reported. Relying on crowd sourcing, NoMásXT allows users to log suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts used by extortionists into a public database. The app then automatically warns users not to answer their phone when a call from one of these listed numbers is received. So far, the list has grown to include over 100,000 phone numbers and 11,000 bank accounts used by extortionists. By contrast, less than 4,500 extortion incidents were reported to state and federal security forces in the same period. 

Most extortion incidents in Mexico are traced back to state and federal prisons, where inmates dial random numbers, or in more sophisticated cases, glean their victim’s personal information from social media. With the help of apps like NoMásXT, Mexican nationals can identify and avoid these scams. While underreporting, tied to widespread distrust in security forces has long been a concern in the city, such grassroots efforts to combat extortion point to new levels of disillusionment with authorities. Despite taking a creative approach to addressing extortion in the city, the mobile app has not reduced the risks faced by commercial operations. Over the past year, reports that major drug cartels are operating extortion rackets in Mexico City, once considered an oasis in a country plagued by cartel violence, have emerged. 

In July 2015, for example, reports surfaced that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was extorting hotels, restaurants, bars, and other commercial premises in Roma and Condesa, two of the city’s trendiest neighbourhoods. Numerous business owners, acting on condition of anonymity, reported paying weekly extortion payments of 5,000 to 10,000 pesos (USD 300 to USD 600) to armed cartel members. Last year, at least three local business owners were killed in these neighbourhoods, presumably for refusing to pay extortion fees. 

Rather than addressing the problem, local authorities and even union leaders have denied the existence of extortion rackets in Mexico City. Miguel Ángel Mancera, the city’s mayor, also refuted a Drug Enforcement Administration report published in November 2015 that highlighted the “dominant presence” of five major drug cartels in Mexico City. With authorities seemingly oblivious to the problem or unwilling to act, commercial extortion is likely to continue unabated.