Mexican Border State Seeks to Combat Organized Crime With Artificial Intelligence

Public security officials said there has been a significant reduction in homicides in some municipalities since the previous administration.

Mexican National Guard members patrol along the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Feb. 5, 2025. Christian Chavez/AP

The Mexican state Chihuahua, which borders the United States from New Mexico to Big Bend in Texas, is seeking to counter organized crime by using artificial intelligence for criminal investigations.

The project, called Plataforma Centinela, was launched in 2021 by state Gov. Maru Campos.

The goal of the platform is “to weaken criminal structures and bring them to justice, and to protect the lives, safety, and property of citizens,” according to the Chihuahua government. Chihuahua is Mexico’s largest state, with an area of almost 96,000 square miles.

A command center is currently under construction in downtown Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas. The 20-story building will house all of the State Public Security Secretariat’s offices.

The state government seeks to deploy more than 3,000 surveillance cameras, 4,800 fixed cameras, and almost 1,800 license plate readers, among other upgrades, to improve security.

The platform will operate by receiving a 911 call, then sending an alert of the event to the command center, connecting the State Public Security Secretariat cameras and integrated citizen cameras, and analyzing the situation. An email will then be sent to the camera owner informing them of the task to be performed.

The command tower will have four floors of operational command centers with a 360-degree video wall, where police will supervise the operations of sub-command centers installed in 13 “strategically chosen” municipalities.

Chihuahua Secretary of Public Security Gilberto Loya said at a May 21 press conference from the Command Tower at the World Police Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that the Secretariat of Public Security “was recognized worldwide as the police force with the most advanced use of artificial intelligence.”

“This award is nothing more than recognition of the great progress the state government has made in public safety,” Loya said.

Luis Aguirre, deputy secretary of public safety, said at the same press conference that the state has seen a significant reduction in homicides in some municipalities, such as Madera and Ciudad Juárez, compared to the previous administration.

“This is a clear sign that the strategy being used at the state level is working,” Aguirre said.

“These results are thanks to the use and application of artificial intelligence and the technological strengthening of the police to respond more forcefully and efficiently. In other words, emergency services are now coordinated more quickly, deployed more quickly, and the public is better served.”

Aguirre said the new security measures have increased the seizure of long guns by 23 percent compared to the previous administration (2018–2021), and more than 107,000 live rounds of ammunition have been seized.

He said more drugs have also been seized, including more than 11 pounds of pure fentanyl, 49 percent more marijuana has been destroyed, more than 2,100 gallons of chemical precursors have been secured, and more than 55 poppy plantations have been destroyed in the state.