In the midst of increasing concerns concerning the propagation of the parasitic of Vis, the national union of the Ranchors of Mexico calls for more stringent actions to stop the trading of smuggling cattle from Central in Mexico and the United States.
National Confederation of cattle organizations in Mexico (Condederación Nacional of Organizaciones Gadenaras – CNOG) published a public declaration On July 16, requesting stronger coordination between the federal and local authorities to deal with the trafficking in cattle.
The measures proposed by the union include the creation of a specialized intelligence unit, the prohibition of cattle imports from Central America to Mexico and stronger controls to slow down the illicit sale and distribution of the cattle identification labels.
“In terms of intelligence, CNOG requests an increase in material and human resources … such as the increase in staff and the training of the National Guard and the Army to stop cattle transport, request the documentation and verify its authenticity,” said a cattle expert at Insight Crime.
The declaration of the Confederation comes in the middle of the current propagation of the screwing verge, a parasite eater of flesh which targets animals with hot blood, including livestock. Detected for the first time in December of last year on an isolated farm near the Mexico border with Guatemala, the epidemic has gradually advanced to the north, raising alarms among American officials and leading to Repeated suspensions of cattle imports In the past year.
See also: Cowing cows – The internal functioning of cattle traffic from Central America in Mexico
“While in the past, Mexico and the United States have managed to face (the pest) by binational cooperation, this time, the Vipe Ver is linked to the smuggling of Central America, an activity now partly controlled by organized crime,” said Antonio Ortiz-Mena, professor at the University of Georgetown who specializes in the international political economy. “It is no longer an informal smuggling – it is a transnational crime.”
Breakable criminal organizations are raised in uncertain circumstances north of the central nations of America in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in Mexico. Many arrive emaciated, in poor health, and without appropriate ear labels or health documentation required to legally transit Mexico.
Despite these irregularities, the transformed meat and the by-products of some of these animals enter international supply chains, sometimes even reaching the American market.
An analysis of insightful crime
A lack of traceability continues to fuel cattle traffic between Mexico and Central America, offering criminals a lucrative opportunity to diversify their portfolios, to whiten illicit funds and to extract money from the transport networks involved, but it is unlikely that the Mexican government is moving to solve this problem soon.
The trade in American cattle-mexico jumped following the approval of the North American free trade agreement (ALENA) in 1994, which exerted pressure on the Mexico supply chain to meet the growing international and local demand. This has since been partially filled with cattle of illegal origin from Central America.
To help supervise the growing flow of livestock, Mexican and Guatemah governments officially signed an agreement In 2019 to regulate cattle imports, demanding The animals come from certified ranches in Guatemala, wear traceable identification labels and wear up -to -date health certificates.
However, as part of a 2022 INSIGHT Crime InvestigationThe National Service of Mexico for Mexico of Health, Security and Quality of Agro -Flitment (Servicio Nacional of Sanidad E inocuidad Agropecuaria of México – Senasica) said that it estimated each year that 800,000 cattle chiefs are tampered with in the country of Guatemala.
This is partly due to a flourishing black market for ear labels that feed the smuggling of cattle.
“Between January and June 2025, just over 500,000 ear labels that do not comply with official regulations were selected in Chiapas, Mexico,” the cattle expert said in Insight Crime.
See also: How the ear labels on the black market help flow smoking cattle
Almost all the sources consulted by Insight Crime during the investigation indicated that some officials sell the ear labels under the table, either directly to traffickers, or to other entities involved in the trade. Traffickers can also buy them at collection points, which frequently obtain ear labels via their local union and sell them directly to those who bring unmarked cattle to their installations.
“The irony is that everything happens legally,” said a government official in southern Mexico at Insight Crime in 2022.
The black ear -labels market is a lucrative business. While an official ear label costs between 40 or 50 Mexican pesos (around $ 2.50), ear labels on the black market can be sold for 1,000 pesos (about $ 50), according to the breeding expert.
The process by which smuggling cattle are “bleached” in the Mexican legal supply chain also creates opportunities for drug trafficking groups to disguise and legitimize illicit profits thanks to the trade in cattle. Criminal networks have also used the system to move cocaine across the border.
In recent years, the fight against this illicit trade on the Mexico-Guaatemala border has not been as high for a priority for the Mexican authorities as the judgment of migrants and drugs.
“The Mexican government has the political will to solve the problem … But its immediate response capacity is limited,” said Ortiz-Mena. “This problem requires close coordination with security, application and international cooperation agencies.”
An proposed solution, noted Ortiz-Mena, consists in modernizing the traceability of the cattle of Mexico by incorporating technologies which are more difficult to counterfeit, including electronic chips or GPS devices which follow the movements of cattle in real time.
