Mexico has made more than 10,000 arrests over the past year in an effort to crack down on the drug trade in Mexican states along the border with the United States.
It’s been nearly a year since Mexico’s government launched Operation Northern Border, an initiative to highlight arrests and seizures of drugs and weapons in Mexico.
In that time, Mexico says law enforcement has arrested more than 10,000 people as part of the operation. It says it has also seized more than 7,000 firearms and more than 600 kilograms of fentanyl.
The operation has resulted in arrests and drug busts in the Mexican state of Sonora, which borders Arizona, including the arrests of three people in the first days of 2026.
Mexico started the operation in February, after threats from the Trump administration tying tariffs to drug flows across U.S. borders.
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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights called for Mexico and the mining company Grupo México’s to make good on promises to the community more than a decade after the historic spill. -
Live cattle imports from Mexico were again halted after a more than year-long pause to protect against the New World screwworm. Now, the border is back open in Douglas. -
In the Sonoran Sky Islands region, one organization is working to bring back native species. But it’s running up against a lengthening border wall. -
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico restricted the movement of U.S. government activities in Nogales, Sonora due to “threat information.” -
A decision from the United Nations’ cultural preservation body, UNESCO, calls for a mission to the Sonora desert nature reserve to assess the impacts of the border wall.
