Mexican drug cartels utilize a wide range of extreme torture techniques as a form of psychological warfare, to extract information, punish rivals, and assert social control

. These methods are often performative, with the body of the victim serving as a message to the public and rival groups. 

Commonly reported cartel torture techniques include:

• Physical Beatings: The most basic and routine form of physical abuse used to inflict pain or coerce information.
• Electrocution: Applying electric shocks to sensitive body parts like the testicles, tongue, and soles of the feet.
• Waterboarding/Asphyxiation: Simulated drowning by covering the victim’s nose and mouth and pouring water over them.
• Mutilation: Amputation of body parts such as fingers or tongues, which sometimes carries specific symbolic messages (e.g., cutting off the index finger for “pointing out” cartels to authorities).
• Beheadings: A common execution method, often filmed and displayed publicly as a form of intimidation and ritual.
• Sexual Abuse and Genital Mutilation: Including castration, with testicles sometimes forced into the victim’s mouth, used to symbolically emasculate victims.
• Forced Participation in “Gladiator Battles”:Victims forced to fight each other to the death, with survivors inducted into the cartel as killers.
• Extreme Wound Aggravation: Applying substances like hot chili peppers to open wounds, sometimes created by twisting corkscrews into the flesh.
• Feeding Victims to Animals: Specific cartels, such as a splinter group of the Sinaloa cartel known as “Los Chapitos,” have been known to feed rivals to tigers.
• Testing Drugs on Prisoners: Using prisoners to test the potency of fentanyl and other drugs produced by the cartels. 

The nature and severity of the violence escalated with the rise of groups like Los Zetas, who used extreme cruelty as a core strategy for territorial control and psychological warfare, leading other cartels to adopt similar brutal tactics to compete. The intent often goes beyond simply killing, focusing instead on a “macabre theater” that turns the victim’s body into a public message. 

Survivors of cartel torture face severe physical and psychological trauma

. Testimonies reveal horrific experiences, and many survivors struggle to find justice due to a lack of state action and collusion between criminal groups and authorities. 

Experiences of Survivors

Survivors have shared harrowing accounts of their captivity and torture:

• Physical Abuse Methods include severe beatings with wooden planks (tablazos), waterboarding, electric shocks, and other forms of physical mutilation.
• Psychological Torture Captives are subjected to constant threats, forced to witness the torture and murder of others, and in some cases, compelled to participate in violent acts, such as dismembering bodies.
• Sexual Violence Women, in particular, are frequently victims of sexual torture and assault, often to extract confessions for crimes they did not commit.
• Forced Labor and Recruitment Some survivors were kidnapped and forced to work for the cartels, with able-bodied men made to fight to the death to become cartel recruits.
• Vulnerable Victims Migrants crossing Mexico are especially vulnerable, frequently falling victim to kidnapping, extortion, rape, and torture by cartels and corrupt officials. 

Challenges for Survivors

• Lack of Justice Many survivors find it nearly impossible to obtain justice. Confessions extracted under torture are often the only evidence used against them, and their claims of abuse are rarely investigated by authorities.
• State Collusion There are numerous reports of collusion between Mexican police, military, and organized crime groups, which endangers victims and hinders investigations.
• Fear and Silence A pervasive climate of fear and silence prevents many survivors from speaking out or seeking help.
• Long-term Trauma Survivors endure lasting physical and emotional scars, with many struggling to reintegrate into society and cope with their trauma. 

Support and Documentation

Organizations like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) work with survivors, providing medical and psychological care and advocating for justice. Their efforts help bring international attention to the human rights crisis in Mexico and support survivors in their recovery and fight for accountability. 

For further information and resources, you can explore reports from human rights organizations like Amnesty International and the US Department of Justice.