- Secretariat of Security and Citizens Protection showed there were 17,065 murders during the first six months of 2019
- Data showed that there were 2,453 homicides in June but officials expect the number to be much higher when an updated report is published July 20
- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador deployed the National Guard this week to the country’s 32 states to combat organized crime
- There have been more than 200,000 Mexican murders since 2006 when the government unleashed its war on drugs
Mexico has recorded its highest ever murder rate with government data revealing a shocking 17,065 homicides were committed in the first six months of 2019. That equates to 94 murders every day.
The information, released Tuesday by the Secretariat of Security and Citizens Protection, showed the murder rate has increased from the same period last year, up from 16,585 murders in the first half of 2018.
A staggering 33,369 people were assassinated in the whole of 2018, the highest number since the country started keeping official numbers in 1997. However, 2019 is on course to eclipse that figure.
According to the government, 2,543 killings were recorded in June, but officials expect the number to surpass the 3,000 when an updated report is released July 20, making it the deadliest month in Mexico’s history.