Poster #144 - Invisible Borders: Criminal Territorial Control and Unequal Health Outcomes in Mexican Cities

• In Event: Poster Session II (posters 80 – 155)

Abstract

It is a well-documented trend that organized criminal groups can establish de facto government status in places where state presence is contested or absent. (Lessing 2021; Arias 2017; Trejo and Ley 2020). In this poster, I argue that in Mexico, especially in northern border cities, criminal organizations effectively function as zoning authorities whose territorial decisions shape neighborhood-level health outcomes more powerfully than formal municipal planning. Much of this evidence is meant to take a quantitative approach towards a commonly qualitatively accessed subject, and much of the report is based on InSight Crime's March 2026 governance typology Local Rules, Global Lessons.

Drawing on geospatial datasets compiled from open-source incident reporting, OFAC designations, Mexican federal seizure records, and INEGI census-tract (AGEB) indicators, I trace fentanyl supply chains through major Mexican cities and analyze where discrepancies occur through overdose, infant mortality, and violence patterns as well as access to health education on these subjects.

Author

• Luke Xavier Curran, Case Western Reserve University