Increasing homicide attacks in Mexico

On 3^th June 2017, a gunman attacked a group of people in Northern Mexico, killing six and wounding 22.

Background

A gunman armed with AK-47 assault rifle opened fire early Saturday in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc after the assailant arrived in a car. The authorities believe the attack could be linked to a conflict between rival criminal gangs. Since the start of the year, the state of Chihuahua has seen more than 700 homicides. According to official figures, 484 people have been slain in Chihuahua State during the first four months of this year compared with 306 during the same period in 2016.

Growing violence in Chihuahua

The border state of Chihuahua, Mexico has been confronting a resurgence of violent crimes but the fight seems to be more about local revenue streams than international trafficking routes. Chihuahua has witnessed a total of 791 gun murders in 2016, which is 40% increase compared to the cases recorded in 2015 and the violence has continued in 2017.

Many of these killings appear to be hits targeting individual victims. There are signs that the recent wave of attacks is tied to organized crime and local level retail drug dealing. Chihuahua’s attorney general, Cesar Peniche stated that there has been 22% increase in homicide cases in 2017.

Drug dealing violence

The recent crime growth in Chihuahua is mostly focussed on retail drug dealing than battle for control of smuggling routes. The violence is highly concentrated among low income or low level drug dealers. A lot of violence is to do with the local street gangs and their fight to control the territory to sell heroin and meth. For four years the city has been convulsed by daily slaughter, becoming the murder capital and a shocking illustration of the Mexican government’s failure to contain violence among warring drug dealers.

The number of minors in Mexico’s drug war has also increased. Although many members of the drug trafficking have been killed and arrested yet the recruitment of youth in the drug trade is high. They have diversified their operations, moving from the transhipment of narcotics to extortion, immigrant smuggling and kidnapping. It also has sparked intense rivalries, with youngsters serving as foot soldiers in battles over trafficking routes to the United States and local markets that serve a growing number of Mexican drug users. The government had deployed troops in the past to curb the drug war. United States has also been investing on the security and defence to stop the drug trade violence. Yet thousands of people have been affected and displaced by violence.  

Assessment

The Mexican government needs to take more stringent action on drug violence and deploy force to restore order and cut down the increasing violence caused by the drug dealers. It should negotiate with the cartel members in order to restore peace. The government must impose strict rules and act on drug production & drug distribution areas. Also, countries that have been buying drugs from Mexico should be restricted to cut down the profit the drug cartels have been making.