Updated government data revealed that Mexico set a new record for homicides in the first half of the year with 17,608 killings, fueled partly by cartel and gang violence in several states.
The startling new figures released Monday showed that the first six month of 2019 were the most violent since 1997, when the country started keeping official numbers, including the peak year of Mexico's drug war in 2011.
The number of murders grew by 5.3% compared to the same period of 2018, when 16,714 people were killed.
Mexico saw 3,080 killings in June, an increase of over 8% from the same month a year ago, according to official figures. The nation of almost 125 million now sees as many as 100 killings per day nationwide.
Workers from a forensic service carry the lifeless body of a man who was killed by gunmen inside Mr. Bar, a watering hole in the tourist area of Acapulco, Mexico, early Sunday
The northeastern state of Nuevo León reported 486 murders from January until June in contrast with 282 during the same period in 2018.In particular, drug cartel turf wars have become increasingly bloody in the northern state of Sonora, where the number of homicides was up by 69% in the first half of 2019. Officials registered 564 killings after 337 were murdered last year.
But in Sinaloa, where the cartel of convicted drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán is based, homicides declined by 23% so far this year compared to last.
Soldiers from the National Guard, State Police officers of Guerrero and Municipal Police officers of Acapulco guard an area outside Mr. Bar where gunmen killed four people and and wounded seven others
Given cutbacks and a widespread reorganization of security forces under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, it is not clear who, if anyone, is doing the analysis and intelligence work to find out exactly which conflicts are causing the rise in homicides.
There have been 20,599 murdered since the leftist leader entered office in December 2018.
As part López Obrador's plan to combat insecurity, a 70,000-man National Guard was created although it's been also deployed to control mass migration at its southern border.
There have been 20,599 homicides reported during the first seven months of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's term in office
'There is very little systematic research that would allow us to conclude what is really happening.'
And other types of crime, like extortion, have become increasingly frequent and violent.
As if to underscore that, officials said Monday the five men killed Sunday at a bar in the resort of Acapulco were allegedly part of a gang of extortionists who shook down business owners for protection payments.
Officers with the State Police of Guerrero and Municipal Police of Acapulco guard an area where gunmen killed five men and wounded six at a bar in Acapulco on Sunday
One suspect has been arrested in the shootings, which left six people wounded. Zuriel said the killers were members of a rival gang.
Workers of a forensic service transport the lifeless body of a man who was killed by gunmen inside a bar in the tourist area of Acapulco, Mexico, on Sunday
- Mexico reported 17,608 killing during the first six months of 2019
- It's the most deadliest first half since the government started keeping official numbers in 1997
- An average of 100 people were killed daily in a nation of 125 million
- Since Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador entered office in December 2018, there have been 20,599 murders recorded
Found this article interesting? Share it with your friends! 👍🏼
This article first appeared on The Daily Mail.
No comments:
Post a Comment