Homicides declined 12.3% in the first four months of the year but extortion increased 22.6%, official data shows.

There were 9,895 homicides between January and April, 1,392 fewer than in the same period of 2021, according to information presented Monday by Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez.

It was the lowest murder count for the first four months of the year since President López Obrador took office.

Homicides declined 3.9% to 2,547 in April compared to 2,651 the previous month.

Michoacán, where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is engaged in a fierce turf war with the Cárteles Unidos, was the most violent state in the first four months with 1,000 homicides.

Guanajuato was the second most violent with 993 murders followed by México state with 830; Baja California with 805; Jalisco with 642; and Sonora with 580. Almost half of all homicides in the first four months of the year occurred in the six most violent states.

Yucatán was the least violent state with 12 homicides between January and April. Campeche and Aguascalientes recorded 17 each while there were 19 murders in Baja California Sur.

Rodríguez also presented data that showed there were 3,555 reported cases of extortion between January and April, an increase of 655 compared to the same period of last year. There were 1,142 reports of that crime last month, a 21.2% increase compared to March.

México state recorded the highest number in the first four months with 1,391, or 39% of the total. A fruit and juice vendor in the municipality of Tlalnepantla was murdered earlier this month when he refused to make an extortion payment.

Veracruz recorded the second highest number of extortion cases with 264 followed by Nuevo León with 246; Guanajuato with 231; and Jalisco with 202.

Data also showed that offenses committed with firearms were up but drug trafficking, financial crimes, vehicle theft and home burglaries all declined.

With reports from Reforma and El Financiero