Homicide numbers in May were the highest ever recorded, according to the National Public Security System (SNSP).
There were 2,530 reported cases of intentional homicides during the month, breaking the previous record of 2,371 set last October.
The total number of victims was 2,890, a figure that is 360 more than the number of cases because some investigations related to two or more deaths. On average, there were 93 intentional homicides per day last month, or almost four per hour.
Three of the four most violent months of the past 20 years have now been recorded this year. March 2018 was the third most violent month since comparable records were first kept in 1997 while April was the fourth most violent.
In its latest crime rate report, the SNSP also said there were 11,437 intentional homicide investigations in the five-month period to the end of May which related to the murder of a total of 13,298 people.
The number of cases is 15% higher than the 9,937 reported in the same period last year.
Colima remained the most violent state in the country, according to per-capita murder rates, with 33 intentional homicides per 100,000 residents in the January to May period.
Baja California was next with 29 intentional homicides per 100,00 followed by Guerrero with 26, Chihuahua with 17 and Guanajuato with 16. The increase in the rate in Guanajuato is particularly notable.
There were 1,302 murder victims in the state during the first five months of the year, more than double the 575 cases recorded in the same period last year.
The number of intentional homicides also increased in Mexico City between January and May, where there were 480 reported cases and 550 victims.
The homicide rate for Mexico as a whole was just over nine per 100,000 residents.
In raw numbers, Baja California recorded the highest number of cases during the period with 1,071 followed by Guanajuato with 1,005 and Guerrero with 966.
Yucatán had the lowest number of cases of any state with 18, followed by Campeche with 20 and Aguascalientes with 35.
SNSP data shows that just over two-thirds, or 68%, of the total number of murders were committed with firearms.
It also shows that gun-related homicides increased by more than 100% in nine of the country’s 30 most violent municipalities in the first four months of the year.
Tepic, Nayarit, experienced the sharpest spike with a 555% increase followed by the Guanajuato municipalities of Irapuato and Salamanca, both of which recorded upsurges greater than 350%.
The number of femicide victims — women and girls killed on account of their gender — is also on the rise.
There were 328 femicide victims in the first five months of the year, 135 more than in the same period last year. The incidence of the crime has more than doubled in the space of just three years.
In contrast, kidnapping rates were down. There were 401 cases reported at the state level in the first five months of the year compared to 482 last year.
Federal investigations into the crime are also down slightly, from 143 last year to 121 cases this year.
Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas have the highest kidnapping rates in the country.
A total of 29,168 homicides last year made 2017 Mexico’s most violent year of at least the last two decades but if the rate recorded in the first five months of this year continues, 2018 will surpass that.
Source: Milenio (sp), Animal PolÃtico (sp)
