Mexico recorded 31,688 murders in 2019

Mexico City, December 21

Mexico recorded 31,688 murders between January and November this year, representing a 2.7 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018, according to the country’s Secretariat of Public Security.

The number of intentional homicides between January and November in 2018 was 30,852. The year ended with a total 33,743 murders recorded, representing an average of 92.4 homicides per day, the Secretariat, which keeps track of crime rates in Mexico, said on Friday in its monthly crime report.

If the trend observed throughout 2019 continues in December, with a monthly average of 2,880 homicides, the year could end as the most violent in Mexico’s history, Efe news reported.

In November, 2,921 cases were recorded, which was 45 more than that of October, the report said.

The highest number of homicides was recorded in the month of July with 2,994 cases, which then dropped to 2,951 in August and then to 2,836 in September, before starting to rise again in October with 2,876 cases.

As of November, 304,395 people were victims of crimes against life and physical integrity, against personal freedom, against heritage and crimes against society, such as corruption and trafficking.

Criminal incidence, defined as the alleged occurrence of crimes recorded in previous inquiries and investigation files initiated by the public prosecutor’s offices, reached a cumulative 161,574 cases in November 2019, up 3.24 per cent compared to the same period last year.

In 15 of the 32 states, the rate of alleged crimes per 1,00,000 inhabitants is higher than the national average of 127.6 cases, and in the other 17 the average is below.

Kidnapping and extortion were the crimes that witnessed the highest increase — 23.15 per cent and 23.48 per cent, respectively — in November 2019, according to the Secretariat report.

The states with the highest number of intentional homicides in November were Guanajuato with 346, Mexico State (245), Baja California (229), Chihuahua (227), Jalisco (226) and Michoacan (193). — IANS