Mexico’s murder rate hits 20-year high

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By CGTN's Denny Alfonso

Mexico saw its highest murder rate in 20 years in May, when more than 2,000 people were killed in the country.

Officials said the legalization of marijuana in parts of the US is helping fuel the violence, with declining drug profits having intensified the turf wars between drug cartels.

The state of Veracruz has seen its share of violence over the years, but what happened on June 24 was exceptional – at least 11 people, including four children and three police officers, were killed by criminal gangs.

Police outside the house where six people – including a four-month-old baby – were killed by gunmen in San Pedro Cacahuatepec near Acapulco. /AFP Photo

The governor of Veracruz blamed organized crime for the violence. The deaths bring the number of killings during the first half of the year to about 10,000. The 2,200 murders in May broke a record set in 1997, according to government data.

The Mexican states with the worst homicide totals were Guerrero with 216 people killed, the State of Mexico with 195, Baja California with 185, and Sinaloa with 154.

Observers said other reasons behind the rise in killings include Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s public safety policies, and a power vacuum created by drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s extradition to the US in January. There has been an intense battle for control of his drug cartel ever since.

“The heroin epidemic in the US has been driving an increase in violence in poppy production areas,” added security analyst Alejandro Hope.

Police investigators work at a crime scene where three men were killed by unknown assailants in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 18, 2017. /VCG Photo

Officials also point to the proliferation of weapons used in criminal activity, which has contributed to a roughly 30-percent increase in murders in 2017 over the same period last year.

“We believe the increase in the homicide rate is directly involved with the gun control issue,” said National Security Commissioner Renato Salas. “Seven out of 10 homicides in the country are committed with firearms.”