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News > Mexico

Mexico City Crime Rises Significantly Over Last Year, Mishandled Cases To Blame

  • A federal police officer near a crime scene in Apodaca on the outskirts of Monterrey Feb. 26, 2012

    A federal police officer near a crime scene in Apodaca on the outskirts of Monterrey Feb. 26, 2012 | Photo: Reuters

Published 17 February 2019
Opinion

Homicides, subway thefts, and business robberies were all up in January, due to what city officials said could be reporting errors or mismanagement of data.

According to government data, Mexico’s capital is entering 2019 with an increase in violence well above January of last year.

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In a just released journalist investigation by Animal Politico based in Mexico City, January 2019 saw 143 registered murders, an uptick of nearly 80 percent compared to 12 months ago.

Not only were homicides up in one of Latin America’s largest cities, but so too were subway thefts — by 365 percent.

The information was made available by a new open source platform on the city’s attorney general website and shows that in addition to killings, violent robberies on businesses tripled in the city. Some 221 robberies on businesses were reported in January 2018 compared to 725 last month—an increase of almost 230 percent.

As well, the number of home burglaries rose by 110 percent, from 29 in January 2018 to 61 in January 2019. Vehicle theft statistics during the same two months we went up by 43.6 percent. Sexual abuse cases increased by 178.5 percent.

Though Mexico City Attorney General Ernestina Godoy didn’t provide reasons for the rampant increase in homicides and violent crimes between January of 2018 and 2019, she did previously comment that the previous capital administration concealed crimes or manipulated criminal figures during that their last two years, at least.

Of 13,000 cases looked at, 3,500 were incorrectly classified, including 55 homicide cases that were misclassified.

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During a press conference last month city officials said those who made the category mishaps would be investigated “if necessary” but that the office would "not perform a witch hunt."

In Cancun, five people were killed and five others wounded when four armed men began shooting into the bar close to the city's main hotel area.

Violence has been rising in the state of Quintana Roo as the Jalisco New Generation cartel reportedly is trying to take over the region from local gangs. Federal authorities reported that 774 people had been killed in the state last year, more than double the 359 killings in 2017.

 

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