The timeline of some of the most relevant events in the Mexican drug war is set out below. Although violence between drug cartels had been occurring for three decades, the Mexican government held a generally passive stance regarding cartel violence through the 1980s and early 2000s.
That changed on December 11, 2006, when the newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 Mexican Army soldiers to the state of Michoacán to end drug violence there. This is regarded as the first major retaliation made against the cartel violence, and viewed as the starting point of the Mexican drug war between the government and the drug cartels. As time passed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which as of 2008 there were about 45,000 troops involved along with state and federal police forces. In 2017, after the capture of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and his extradition to the U.S., turf wars between Sinaloa and CJNG escalated as did the number of homicides in Mexico.
In December 2018, incoming President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged to bring down gang-fueled violence and on January 30, 2019, he declared the end of the Mexican drug war. but homicides hit a record level in 2019 with 34,600 murders and continued to climb even during the coronavirus lockdown.
2000-2009 2006 November 25 – Popular singer Valentín Elizalde is ambushed and gunned down along with his manager (and best friend) Mario Mendoza Grajeda, and driver Reynaldo Ballesteros, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, across the border from McAllen, Texas. December 1 – President Felipe Calderón assumes office. He imposes a cap on salaries of high-ranking public servants and orders a raise on the salaries of the Federal Police and the Mexican Armed Forces. December 11 – Operation Michoacán is launched against the La Familia Michoacana cartel. A total of more than 60 Mexican soldiers and more than 100 police officers, and 500 cartel gunmen are killed in the operation.
2007 January 2 – Operation Baja California is launched. January 20 – Drug lord Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is extradited to the USA. March 17 – Zhenli Ye Gon is relieved of US$213 million in Mexico City.Zhenli: “Coopelas o cuellos”, me dijeron; Lozano demandará Milenio, July 2, 2007. May 14 – Jorge Altriste, head of operations for Mexico's elite police force in Tijuana, is murdered. December 2 – Popular singer Sergio Gómez is kidnapped and killed. December 8 – Gerardo García Pimentel, a crime reporter, is killed."Asesinan a reportero en Michoacán" El Manana – Domingo, December 9, 2007 (Spanish) (Retrieved on December 9, 2007)"Gunmen in Mexico kill crime reporter" Reuters – Sun Dec 9, 2007. (Retrieved on December 9, 2007) December 29 – The entire police force in the town of Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, is disarmed under suspicions of collaborating with drug cartels. For 2007, the drug-related death toll reached 2,477.
2008 January 1 – The Federal government, along with SEDENA, launches the Joint Operation Nuevo León-Tamaulipas in order to eliminate the operation areas of both the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. January 21 – Mexican security forces capture drug lord Alfredo Beltrán Leyva. March 27 – The Federal government launches the Operation Chihuahua to confront the three drug cartels operating in the state. Ciudad Juárez's violence is among the major concerns in this operation. April 26 – 15 people are killed in a gun battle between the Tijuana Cartel and a rival drug cartel in Tijuana, Baja California. May 8 – Acting commissioner of the Federal Police Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez is gunned down in Mexico City. He was the highest-ranking Mexican official killed. May 9 – Esteban Robles Espinosa, the commander of Mexico's investigative police force, is murdered in Mexico City. May 13 – The Federal government launches the Operation Sinaloa to crack down on the Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, and Los Zetas in the state. May 28 – Seven Federal Police agents die in a shootout in Culiacán. May 31 – The United States announces it is implementing a drug trafficking law to impose financial sanctions on Mexican drug cartels. June 26 – Police commander Igor Labastida is shot dead in a restaurant in Mexico City. June 30 – The Mérida Initiative, a US$1.6 billion security cooperation agreement between the US and Mexico, announced on October 22, 2007, is signed into law. September 13 – In Ocoyoacac, 24 bodies are found at a national park called La Marquesa; all bodies were shot and showed signs of torture. September 15 – 2008 Morelia grenade attacks: eight civilians are killed and more than 100 are injured in Morelia after hand grenades are thrown into a crowd. September 17 – Over 200 people across Mexico, Guatemala, Italy and the United States, including members of the Gulf Cartel and the 'Ndrangheta are arrested in a major anti-drug trafficking operation called Operation Solare. October 22 – Police capture boss Jesús Zambada García of the Sinaloa Cartel after a shootout in Mexico City. October 24 – Criminal investigator Andrés Dimitriadis is shot dead by cartel gunmen (sicarios) in his car on his way home in Cuernavaca, Morelos. October 26 – The Mexican army captures drug lord Eduardo Arellano Félix after a shootout in Tijuana. November 2 – The Federal Police chief Víctor Gerardo Garay resigns amidst claims of corruption. He is arrested and charged on December 10 for protecting the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. November 6 – In Reynosa, the Mexican army makes the largest weapon seizure in the history of Mexico. The seizure includes 288 assault rifles, 126 handguns, 166 grenades, 14 TNT explosives, 500,000 cartridges, over 1,000 ammunition magazines, and a rocket launcher. November 7 – The Federal Police arrest Jaime González Durán in Tamaulipas; he was a founding member of Los Zetas. November 17 – Rodolfo de la Guardia García, ex-director of Mexico's Interpol office, is arrested and charged of protecting the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. November 19 – Mexican Interpol chief Ricardo Gutiérrez Vargas is arrested on suspicion of links with drug cartels. November 21 – Noé Ramírez Mandujano, ex-head of Mexico's anti-organized crime agency, is arrested on suspicion of links with drug cartels. November 30 – Guatemalan and Mexican drug cartels clash on the two countries' border, leaving 18 dead. December 10 – Felix Batista, an American anti-kidnapping expert, is kidnapped in Saltillo. December 21 – Seven off-duty soldiers and one police commander are kidnapped, tortured and decapitated. Their heads are left at a shopping center located in Chilpancingo with a threat note to the military.
For 2008, the drug-related death toll reached 6,290.
2009 January 2 – Mexican authorities arrest Alberto Espinoza Barrón, one of the La Familia Michoacana cartel leaders. January 6 – Gunmen fire on and throw grenades at the Televisa TV station in Monterrey during a nightly newscast, causing no injuries. A note left on the scene reads: "Stop reporting just on us. Report on the narco's political leaders." January 22 – Police arrest Santiago Meza, a man who allegedly dissolved 300 bodies of rival drug traffickers for his boss Teodoro García Simental. February 3 – The body of retired General Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñónez, who had been appointed a special drugs consultant to the Benito Juárez municipality mayor, is found near Cancún along with the bodies of his aide and a driver. February 5 – Police capture trafficker and lieutenant Gerónimo Gámez García in Mexico City. February 7 – The Federal government, along with SEDENA, launches the Operation Quintana Roo, sending thousands of troops to Cancún and several cities within the state. Several police officers in that state are found guilty of drug trafficking, and 'El Puma,' a Gulf Cartel lieutenant, is captured. February 10 – Military troops take over a police station in Cancún in connection with the torture and murder of former general Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñónez, who led an elite anti-drugs squad. February 12 – Gunmen assassinate Detective Ramón Jasso Rodríguez, the chief in charge of the homicide division for the state police of Nuevo León. February 15 – The Mexican Navy, with the help of the United States Coast Guard, confiscate 7 tons of cocaine being transported on a fishing vessel in international waters in the Pacific Ocean.Secretaria de Marina – Armada de México http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/ameri...ref=rss_latest February 17 – A shootout takes place in the city of Reynosa between members of the Mexican Army and presumed members of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. The death of the high-ranking Gulf Cartel leader Héctor Manuel Sauceda Gamboa is confirmed. February 20 – Ciudad Juárez's Police Chief Robert Orduna announces his resignation after two police officers are killed. Drug traffickers had threatened to kill one police officer every 48 hours until the chief resigned. February 22 – Five assailants attack the convoy of Chihuahua governor, José Reyes Baeza, killing a bodyguard. February 24 – Mexican authorities extradite Miguel Ángel Caro Quintero, top-leader of the Sonora Cartel, to the U.S. Heavily armed gunmen assassinate Adrián López, mayor of Vista Hermosa, Michoacán. U.S. raids code-named Operation Xcellerator on the Sinaloa cartel in California, Minnesota and Maryland lead to 755 arrests, the discovery of a 'super meth lab' and laboratory equipment capable of producing 12,000 ecstasy pills per hour. February 25 – The New York Times reports on ATF statistics stating that 90% of traced guns originated in the United States. * This prompts a resurgence of heated debates in USA concerning the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban. February 28 – Close to 1,800 Mexican troops arrive in Ciudad Juárez as part of a contingent of 5,000 Federal Police and troops. March 9 – The Mexican Army confirms the arrest of 26 members of the Arrellano Félix Cartel, including Ángel Jácome Gamboa (El Kaibil), one state police officer, one municipal police officer, and other suspects. March 10 – The Mexican Ministry of Defense orders 6 Eurocopter EC 725 Helicopters from Eurocopter to transport soldiers in special operations. The deal is finalized behind closed doors between Felipe Calderón and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. March 12 – The United States Department of Homeland Security states that it is considering using the National Guard 'as a last resort' to counter the threat of drug violence in Mexico from spilling over the border into the US. March 19 – Mexican military captures Vicente Zambada Niebla alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug boss and son of drug lord Ismael Zambada García El Mayo. March 22 – Gunmen kill Édgar Garcia, a state police commander in charge of investigating kidnappings and extortion in the western state of Michoacán.https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090323/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_violence;_ylt=AmXSbL0SfiYNOu3xNsCzpz23IxIF March 23 - Mexican authorities publish a List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords March 25 – A Mexican Special Forces Unit captures one of Mexico's most-wanted drug smugglers, Héctor Huerta Ríos. March 26 – A US Marshal, Vincent Bustamante who was the subject of an arrest warrant, is found dead in Ciudad Juárez. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces the future delivery of an additional 8 Black Hawk helicopters to Mexican security forces. Germán Torres Jiménez, alias El Z-25, a founding member of Los Zetas, is captured in Poza Rica. April 2 – Vicente Carrillo Leyva, son of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, is arrested in Mexico City. April 19 – Eight Federal Police agents are killed in an attack on a prison convoy transporting senior leaders of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. The Federal Police captures 44 suspected members of La Familia Cartel, including its chief Rafael Cedeño Hernández "El Cede".