Mexico Creates Specialized General Agency on Criminal Organizations

Mexico's Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación) published a decree to reform and add provisions to the Internal Regulations of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), establishing the Specialized General Agency on Criminal Organizations (Dirección General Especializada en Organizaciones Delictivas or DGEOD) as part of the structure of the Financial Intelligence Unit (Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera or UIF).

Main Objective

The main objective of the DGEOD is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the UIF in combating criminal organizations and high-impact crimes through financial intelligence and interagency coordination at both the national and international levels.

Key Functions

The following are the DGEOD's key functions:

• analyzing and developing financial intelligence on individuals potentially linked to criminal organizations and high-impact crimes
• requesting information from obligated parties, authorities, and third parties regarding suspicious financial transactions
• preparing intelligence reports and coordinating strategic actions with domestic and foreign authorities
• participating in cooperation mechanisms related to public and national security
• sharing information and partnering with agencies such as the Attorney General's Office and the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection

Internal Structure

The agency is composed of two operational units:

• Operational Coordination on Criminal Organizations A
• Operational Coordination on Criminal Organizations B

Both units are responsible for conducting analyses, proposing strategic actions and serving as liaisons in cooperation frameworks. This becomes more relevant following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order of Jan. 20, 2025, in which Mexican cartels were designated foreign terrorist organizations, with all the implications that entails.

Effective Date

The decree entered into force on May 28, 2025.

This decree represents a significant institutional step toward strengthening the fight against organized crime from a financial perspective by equipping the UIF with more targeted and operational legal and organizational tools.

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