Mexico City, Mexico — President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday that she sent the laws that harmonize actions to combat extortion to Congress.
The legal advisor to the Federal Executive Branch, Ernestina Godoy Ramos, explained that the initiative contemplates coordination between authorities, a basic criminal classification, elements and provisions for investigating, prosecuting, and punishing this crime, as well as criminal enforcement and specific rules for penitentiary centers.
Thus, the crime of extortion is prosecuted ex officio, so it won’t depend on a complaint for investigation; furthermore, all authorities will have the same resources.
The penalties or sentences will range from six to 15 years in prison depending on aggravating factors such as protection rackets, if the victims are migrants or minors, or if the offenders are public servants or inmates of a penitentiary.
He said that, in this way, the strategy currently being implemented by the federal government is elevated to the rank of law; it includes reforms to the Federal Penal Code, the Federal Law against Organized Crime, the National Code of Criminal Procedure, and the National Asset Forfeiture Law.
She explained that the recent reform to Article 73 of the Constitution empowers the Congress of the Union to enact a general law to combat extortion.
The ultimate goal is to consolidate public peace and security in the country through a national strategy that addresses the causes of violence and implements intelligence, investigation, and coordination among authorities, with full respect for human rights.
