At just after 6am on a recent weekday, a 46-year-old driver named Nicho steps on the gas pedal, easing his heavy cargo truck from behind the sturdy me

The newest threat to the global supply chain? Hijackers

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2024-09-08 04:30:04

At just after 6am on a recent weekday, a 46-year-old driver named Nicho steps on the gas pedal, easing his heavy cargo truck from behind the sturdy metal security gate at his company’s warehouse on the outskirts of Mexico City and onto one of the most dangerous highways in the world for truck drivers.

The most recent hijacking he heard about on this section of road was two days ago. “At the toll station they intercepted him. They took him out of the truck violently and [kidnapped him] for a little while, a few hours,” he adds.

Although Nicho has never been attacked by hijackers, he estimates two drivers are hijacked on the Mexico Querétaro Highway every day and stays on the lookout for cars without license plates carrying groups of men.

“There are a lot of fake checkpoints,” he says. “You have to stop. They ask you what you are carrying and where you are going. They have military gear on, assault rifles. But they aren’t police, they are criminals.”