This article points out the concept of militarized security policies –i.e. the direct involvement of the military in homeland security tasks and the armed confrontation of the cartels- in contemporary Mexico. In this context, the administrations of ex-Presidents Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) and Enrique Peña Νieto (2012-2018) are being evaluated based on a number of criteria: the repercussions of their policies in terms of the rise of a war economy, a further weakness of the rule of law and the victimization of the civil population. The concept of «gray areas» controlled by the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations is also highlighted as a new threat undermining the sovereignty of the Mexican state.