HomeNewsBriefFigures Show Violence in Mexico Rising and Spreading
BRIEF

Figures Show Violence in Mexico Rising and Spreading

HOMICIDES / 28 APR 2016 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Data compiled by a Mexican civil society group confirms a disturbing trend noted in Mexico in recent months -- violence is not only rising sharply it is also spreading to regions not previously considered organized crime hotspots.

During the first trimester of 2016, Mexican organization Semáforo Delictivo documented a 15 percent increase in homicides related to organized crime. The group's director, Santiago Roel, said 57 percent of total homicides this year were the result of criminal executions, up from 48 percent for the same period in 2015, reported Excelsior.

In total, Semáforo Delictivo registered 4,456 homicides during the first three months of 2016 -- up from 3,862 in 2015 -- putting Mexico on pace to have around 18,000 murders this year.

The states found to have the highest homicide rates were: Colima (17.7 per 100,000 citizens), Guerrero (14.5), and Sinaloa (8.3). Those with the least were: Nayarit (0.9), Aguascalientes (0.7), and Yucatán (0.7). Guerrero had the largest number of homicides potentially linked to organized crime, with 436.

Semáforo Delictivo, which translates to "Criminal Stoplight," also measures incidences of other high impact crimes in Mexico, and found a 12 and 9 percent decrease in extortion and kidnapping, respectively, during the first trimester of 2016.

Overall, Colima, Guerrero, and Morelos were identified as the states with the largest deterioration in their security conditions this year, with the organization emphasizing the situation of Colima as particularly alarming, reported Animal Politico.

InSight Crime Analysis

Semáforo Delictivo's data confirms previous observations of a worrisome trend: Mexico's homicide rates are climbing.

The Mexican government recently released statistics showing that March saw 1,725 homicide victims, the highest since January 2014 when such data first started being compiled. Moreover, official government data reported 3,158 murders during January and February, an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2015.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Homicides

Mexico's increasing homicide levels are in part being driven by geographic regions typically associated with violence and criminal activity, most notably Guerrero. Indeed, the security situation of Guerrero's once proud tourist-mecca of Acapulco continues to be critical with official figures showing 332 people killed in the city so far this year despite a number of security operations aiming to restore calm in recent years. One Mexican civil society organization recently ranked Acapulco the country's most violent municipality, with violence levels nearly four times that the national average.

However, Mexico's rising homicide trend is even more troubling for the increases in places one might not immediately suspect, such as Colima. In 2015 Colima did not even register among Mexico's top five most violent states, but an increase in homicides of over 300 percent has helped make it Mexico's most violent state for the first time ever.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 30 SEP 2021

Evidence and accusations are piling up against Mexico's former top security official Genaro García Luna, as US prosecutors proffer new…

FEATURED / 8 MAY 2023

While fentanyl dominates headlines, Mexico has continued to produce colossal tons of methamphetamine which floods the United States.

HOMICIDES / 17 NOV 2022

Hidalgo, Mexico faces a rise in violence connected to a parallel increase in oil theft.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…