The Bajío region state of Guanajuato has been Mexico’s most violent state in recent years in terms of total homicides.
But the state’s daily murder rate declined sharply last week, according to preliminary government statistics, allowing Guanajuato to shake off that unenviable title, at least for a brief period of time.
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch attributed the almost 45% week-over-week decline in homicides to the arrest last Tuesday of nine people he said were “members of a crime cell linked to a group dedicated to kidnapping, fuel theft, drug sales, armed attacks and principally homicides in the state of Guanajuato.”
At President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference on Tuesday, García presented data that showed there was an average of seven homicides per day in Guanajuato between March 17 and 23, a 44.9% reduction compared to the 12.7 murders per day recorded in the state between March 10 and 16.
Guanajuato thus had its least violent week of 2025 last week, according to the data displayed by the security minister. The most violent week of the year to date in Guanajuato was between March 3 and 9, when there was an average of 15.6 homicides per day.
García told reporters that “as an immediate result” of the arrests last Tuesday “Guanajuato has not been in first place in homicide numbers for six days.”
However, data presented earlier in the press conference showed that Guanajuato has been the most violent state so far this month with almost 300 homicides between March 1 and 24.
Crime cell leader ‘Alfa 1’ among the 9 suspects detained
García reported that federal security forces including the army and the navy carried out “six simultaneous” operations on March 18 that resulted in the arrest of nine people in Querétaro, Guanajuato and Yucatán.
As noted above, the security minister said that the nine suspects were members of a crime cell linked to a larger organized crime group that operates in Guanajuato.
The larger group he was referring to is reportedly an alliance between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Gulf Cartel, which are believed to have joined forces in a fight against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Guanajuato. The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has been fighting the CJNG in Guanajuato for years.
Detenido José Francisco Contreras Gómez, alias “Alfa 1”, líder de la célula “Escorpiones” del Cártel del Golfo, vinculada con el Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima
Cuenta con antecedentes penales por diversos delitos en los años 2008 y 2019 y fue señalado como objetivo prioritario de las… pic.twitter.com/FWLy3m7pFV
— Juan Becerra Acosta (@juanbaaq) March 20, 2025
García highlighted that José Francisco Contreras Gómez — who allegedly headed up the Los Escorpiones cell of the Gulf Cartel — was among those detained last Tuesday.
He said that Contreras, known as “Alfa 1,” is “responsible” for the attack on the Cantaritos Bar in Querétaro that claimed the lives of 10 people last November.
“In addition, he was in charge of ordering attacks on rival groups and also against authorities,” García said.
Contreras was arrested in Querétaro along with his partner, Sandra León Moreno, nicknamed “La Patrona” (The Boss).
García said that the arrest of Contreras was of “great importance because he was one of the main generators of violence in the region.”
“As we’ve said on other occasions, we’re convinced that in order to reduce the crime rate we have to detain those who commit crimes and this is proof of that,” he said.
García also highlighted that a man identified only as José Remedios “N” was among the nine people detained in last week’s simultaneous operations.
He described José Remedios as a “homicide leader of a criminal cell” and said he has been “identified by the National Intelligence Center as one of the main generators of violence in the region of Guanajuato and Querétaro.”
The suspect, also reportedly a member of Los Escorpiones, was detained in the state of Yucatán.
García said that on the instructions of Sheinbaum, he and Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo would travel to Guanajuato later in the day to meet with the state governor and her team in order to “monitor the actions that are continuing to reduce high-impact crimes in the entity.”
Almost 1 in 5 homicides this month occurred in Guanajuato
Data presented earlier in Sheinbaum’s press conference by the head of the National Public Security System (SNSP) showed that there were 278 homicides in Guanajuato between March 1 and 24 for an average of 11.6 per day. That figure is more than double the number of homicides in México state, which ranks as Mexico’s second most violent state so far this month.
SNSP chief Marcela Figueroa highlighted that more than 17% of all homicides in Mexico so far this month occurred in Guanajuato. There were 1,619 homicides across the country in the first 24 days of March, according to the data she presented. An average of 67.46 murders were reported per day in the first 24 days of the month, a 22.4% decline compared to the daily average in September, the last month of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term.
In Guanajuato, most of the violence is concentrated in a relatively small number of municipalities including Salvatierra, Celaya and Salamanca. The aforesaid turf war between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the CJNG is the main driver of the violence.
Mexico’s most violent states this month
According to the preliminary data presented by Figueroa, the 10 most violent states in Mexico in terms of total homicides so far this month are as follows:
- Guanajuato: 278 homicides accounting for 17.2% of all homicides in Mexico this month.
- México state: 126 homicides (7.8% of total)
- Chihuahua: 109 homicides (6.7% of total)
- Baja California: 99 homicides (6.1% of total)
- Sinaloa: 95 homicides (5.9% of total)
- Sonora: 90 homicides (5.6% of total)
- Michoacán: 78 homicides (4.8% of total)
- Nuevo León: 71 homicides (4.4% of total)
- Jalisco: 70 homicides (4.3% of total)
- Mexico City: 65 homicides (4% of total)
