2025 in organized crime

In 2025, a number of events took place in organized crime.

Events

• January 17 – Nine people are killed during a shootout between Gulf Cartel gunmen and the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Montelibano, Córdoba Department, Colombia.^[1]
• January 31 – An improvised explosive device left by cartel members detonates in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, killing two villagers and injuring a third.^[2]
• February 4 – A series of shootouts and encounters are reported in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, after the arrest of the regional leader of the Cártel del Noreste and leader of an armed wing in the state. The United States Consulate in Mexico issues an alert for its citizens to not go out on the streets, and the Nuevo Laredo International Airport suspends activities due to the violence.^[3]
• February 9 – At least five bodies are abandoned under a bridge near Cárdenas, Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico. A banner allegedly signed by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel was found at the crime scene.^[4]
• February 11 – Italian police arrest around 150 people across Sicily in the biggest anti-Mafia raid since 1984.^[5]
• February 28 – Mexico extradites 29 alleged cartel members to the United States, including Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel Treviño Morales, Omar Treviño Morales, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez.^[6]
• April 29 – Alejandro Gertz Manero, Attorney General of Mexico, concluded that the Izaguirre Ranch was used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a recruitment camp between 2021 and 2024, but found no evidence that it served as an extermination site.^[7]
• April 30 – The Colombian government says fifteen police officers and twelve soldiers have been killed over the past two weeks in targeted attacks by the Gulf Clan cartel and other armed groups.^[8]
• May 6 – Five gunmen are killed and six vehicles burned, after an encounter between Cártel del Noreste and Jalisco New Generation Cartel´s which took place in the Rayones, Nuevo León, México.^[9]
• May 20 – Seven people are killed, including minors, in a mass shooting by Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel gunmen in San Felipe, Guanajuato, Mexico.^[10]
• May 30 – Nine alleged members of the Los Metros drug cartel are arrested by Mexican law enforcement on suspicion of the abduction and murder of the musical group Grupo Fugitivo who disappeared in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.^[11]
• June 2 – Five police officers are killed after an ambush in a highway in the border municipality of Frontera Comalapa. Hours later, an attacker was arrested and authorities confirmed that the attack was a retaliation for the recent arrest of Aler Baldomero Samayoa Recinos, also known as “Chicharra,” leader of Los Huistas, a Guatemalan criminal group that established ties with both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG.^[12]
• June 9 – The U.S. Treasury Department imposes sanctions on Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and his brother Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, El Chapo's sons who are believed to be in Mexico and leading factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.^[13]
• June 26 – Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa announces the recapture of José Adolfo Macías Villamar, the leader of the Los Choneros cartel and Ecuador's most wanted criminal, in Manta, Manabí Province, after he disappeared from a prison last year.^[14]
• June 30 – Twenty bodies, five of them decapitated, are found either hanging from a bridge or inside a van abandoned beneath, near Culiacán, Sinaloa, amid clashes between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.^[15]
• July 20 – Ecuador extradites José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of the Los Choneros cartel, to the United States where he faces federal charges related to drug trafficking.^[16]
• July 27 – Seventeen people are killed and 14 others are injured after gunmen open fire on a bar in El Empalme, Ecuador. The shooting is believed to be linked to a conflict between local drug cartels for control of drug trafficking routes.^[17]
• August 8 – U.S. president Donald Trump signs an executive order commanding the U.S. military and other sectors of the federal government to take action against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist organisations, such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13.^[18]
• August 19 – Six severed heads are discovered on a road that links the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala in Mexico. The La Barredora cartel is suspected to be behind the attack.^[19]
• August 21 – U.S. president Donald Trump deploys three guided-missile destroyers off the coast of Venezuela after the U.S. government authorized military operations against Latin American drug cartels, prompting an escalation of tensions between the United States and Venezuela.^[20]
• August 25 – Former Mexican drug lord and Sinaloa Cartel top leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges in the United States.^[21]
• September 2 – The United States military conducts a precision strike and sinks a Venezuelan boat reportedly used by Tren de Aragua for smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing 11 people.^[22]
• September 4 – The United States designates Ecuadorian drug cartels Los Choneros and Los Lobos as terrorist organizations. U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio also says that the U.S. will support the Ecuadorian Navy by providing $6 million in drones and $13 million for general security in the fight against these gangs.^[23]
• September 15 – United States president Donald Trump claims that the U.S. military carried out a strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel vessel in international waters, killing three people, making it the second such strike carried out against a suspected drug boat in September.^[24]

Arts and literature

• Den of Thieves 2
• Mafia: The Old Country

Deaths

• May 11 – John Barbato, 90, American mobster (Genovese crime family).^[25]
• May 29 – Francesco Mallardo, 74, Italian mobster (Mallardo clan).^[26]

See also

• Timeline of the Mexican Drug War
• List of years in organized crime

References

1. Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Nine Dead In New Fighting With Colombia's ELN Rebels: Official". barrons. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
2. "Vehículo se incendia por activación de artefacto explosivo y deja dos muertos en Tamaulipas - El Sol de Tampico | Noticias Locales, Policiacas, sobre México, Tamaulipas y el Mundo". oem.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
3. Santiago, E. (3 February 2025). "Suspenden vuelos tras balaceras en Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas; Consulado de EE.UU. lanza alerta". UnoTV (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
4. "Cuelgan 5 cuerpos de un puente en Salamanca, Guanajuato". Grupo Milenio (in Spanish). 9 February 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
5. France-Presse, Agence (11 February 2025). "Police in Sicily arrest almost 150 people in mafia crackdown". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
6. "Notorious Mexican drug lord among 29 cartel members extradited to US". www.bbc.com. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
7. "Mexico's attorney general says ranch was used for cartel training, but no mass graves found". BorderReport. 29 April 2025. Archived from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
8. "Targeted attacks on Colombian security forces leave 27 dead in two weeks". www.bbc.com. 30 April 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
9. "Enfrentamiento en Rayones, Nuevo León; balacera entre cárteles deja cinco muertos y vehículos incendiados". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
10. "Gunmen kill 7 people, including children, in central Mexico; cartel messages left at crime scene - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
11. "Five musicians murdered in suspected Mexican cartel killing". BBC News. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
12. "Detienen a uno de los presuntos responsables de emboscar y calcinar a cinco policías en Chiapas". www.proceso.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
13. "US imposes sanctions on El Chapo's fugitive sons, offers $10 million reward for their capture". AP News. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
14. "Ecuador's most-wanted gang leader Fito arrested — president – DW – 06/26/2025". dw.com. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
15. Graham, Thomas (30 June 2025). "Twenty bodies discovered in Sinaloa as Mexican cartel violence surges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
16. "Ecuador extradites leader of violent Ecuadorian drug gang to the United States". AP News. 20 July 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
17. "Seventeen killed as gunmen attack bar in Ecuador". BBC News. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
18. "Trump signs order authorising military action against cartels: Reports". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
19. "Mexico: Six severed heads found on road". www.bbc.com. 20 August 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
20. "U.S. warships to sail off Venezuela as tension soars between Trump and Maduro regime over cartel accusations - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
21. Sisak, Michael R.; español, JENNIFER PELTZ Leer en (25 August 2025). "Long-elusive Mexican drug lord Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada pleads guilty in US". AP News. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
22. "U.S. military strikes drug-carrying boat from Venezuela, Rubio says - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2 September 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
23. Psaledakis, Daphne; Valencia, Alexandra; Psaledakis, Daphne (5 September 2025). "US gives Ecuador nearly $20 million in new funding, drones to fight drug gangs". Reuters. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
24. Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil; Ali, Idrees; Stewart, Phil (16 September 2025). "Trump says US struck another alleged Venezuelan drug vessel, killing three". Reuters. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
25. "John J. Barbato, Sr. - View Obituary & Service Information". John J. Barbato, Sr. Obituary. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
26. "È morto Francesco Mallardo, il superboss di camorra era ai domiciliari in clinica". Napoli Fanpage (in Italian). 29 May 2025. Archived from the original on 5 August 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.