HomeNewsBriefMexico State Leads Country in Homicides as Govt Launches Intervention
BRIEF

Mexico State Leads Country in Homicides as Govt Launches Intervention

BELTRAN LEYVA ORG / 7 JUL 2014 BY KYRA GURNEY EN

Rising homicides, a high-level capture and a bloody military battle point to growing insecurity in Mexico State, which borders the capital, months after the federal government announced a plan to improve security in the state.

Between January and May this year, Mexico State, known as Edomex (Estado de Mexico), has seen the greatest number of homicides, violent car thefts, extortion cases, rapes and bank robberies in the country, reported Vanguardia.

The state, which is the most populous in the country, registered 838 homicides during the first five months of 2014 -- nearly 14 percent more than the same period in 2013 -- significantly higher than violent states such as Sinaloa, with 484 homicides, or Michoacan, with 464.

Mexico State was also the site of the recent capture of a reported Familia Michoacana cartel leader. Mexican officials confirmed the arrest of Jose Maria Chavez Magaña, alias "El Pony," on July 2 and identified him as one of the individuals responsible for an increase in violence in some areas of the state. At the time of his arrest, Magaña's group was allegedly embroiled in a fierce internal conflict in addition to fighting against the Knights Templar (Caballeros Templarios) and Guerreros Unidos criminal groups for control of the state.

Magaña had reportedly been in charge of the Familia Michoacana's criminal activities in Mexico State since October 2011.

InSight Crime Analysis

The violence in Mexico State has called the attention of the federal government, which announced a "strategic plan" in March to improve security in the state, including doubling the number of federal police. The federal government's engagement can be explained in part by the fact that President Enrique Peña Nieto was, until 2011, the governor of Mexico State. Earlier this week, current Governor Eruviel Avila said that violence had gotten out of hand and the state needed support from the federal security forces.

The recent spike in violence in the state can be attributed to battles between rival cartels for control of the territory as criminal groups migrate from the neighboring states of Michoacan and Guerrero in response to security crackdowns there.

SEE ALSO: Beltran Leyva Organization Profile

Guerreros Unidos, a splinter group of the Beltran Leyva Organization, is one of the contributors to the insecurity. The group recently made international news when a battle with a military patrol left 22 members dead. According to BBC Mundo, Guerreros Unidos has only minor drug trafficking operations and relies mainly on kidnappings and extortion to generate profits. Unlike drug trafficking, these are inherently violent activities, which rely on widespread fear in order to make a profit.

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

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 24 AUG 2022

A new rule in the United States seeks to stem the flow of ghost guns, bought in parts online and…

JALISCO CARTEL / 5 APR 2022

The deaths of 20 people at a clandestine fight in Mexico’s state of Michoacán has revealed how a fairly small…

BRAZIL / 23 NOV 2022

A lack of regulation surrounding how crypto-currencies are used by organized crime has left Latin America dangerously exposed.

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…