Mexico's Senate received a bill from the Chamber of Deputies to enact the General Law for Preventing, Investigating, and Sanctioning Extortion Crimes. The initiative aims to coordinate efforts among authorities to combat the offense nationwide. It sets penalties of six to 15 years in prison and substantial fines, with aggravating factors based on case circumstances.
Mexico's Senate received the bill sent by the Chamber of Deputies to enact the General Law for Preventing, Investigating, and Sanctioning Extortion Crimes, regulating fraction XXI of article 73 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Senate President Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez announced that the project was referred to the United Committees of Justice and Legislative Studies for review.
The proposal amends and repeals provisions in laws such as the Federal Penal Code, the National Code of Criminal Procedures, the Federal Law Against Organized Crime, the National Law on Extinction of Domain, and the Organic Law of the Federal Judiciary. Its main objective is to distribute competencies and coordination methods among federal, state, and municipal authorities for preventing, investigating, prosecuting, and sanctioning extortion crimes and related offenses.
The basic criminal type is defined as compelling someone, without right, to give, do, or tolerate something to obtain a benefit or cause patrimonial, moral, physical, or psychological harm. Penalties include six to 15 years in prison and fines of 100 to 500 times the daily value of the Unit of Measure and Update (UMA).
Penalties increase by up to one-third in cases such as intent for ongoing benefits, imposing prices on victims, use of financial accounts, coercion through public entities or unknowing third parties, or affecting electoral candidates. They rise from one-third to one-half against migrants, those under 18, pregnant individuals, those over 60, or in trust relationships. Further, they aggravate from one-half to two-thirds with use of private information, violence in intentional traffic incidents, armed intervention, or claiming affiliation with criminal groups.
The law also promotes cross-cutting actions, programs, and policies for effective crime prevention.