- Mexico continues to face a violent reality, as it has been named the world’s most dangerous country for six years. Drug trafficking cartels, kidnappings, disappearances, extortion, and fuel theft are just some of the problems fueling the nation’s insecurity.
- The city of Colima, located in western Mexico, was recognized as the world’s most violent city, with a staggering 181.94 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Other Mexican cities, including Ciudad Obregón, Juarez, Tijuana, Zacatecas, Celaya, Uruapan, Juárez, and Acapulco, also made the list of the top 10 most violent cities globally.
- Criminal organizations, such as the Jalisco Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, and Familia Michoacana, are Mexico’s main drivers of violence. Despite government efforts, disputes over control of territory and drug trafficking continue to fuel violence in the country.
For the sixth consecutive year, a Mexican city was ranked as the most violent city in the world in 2022. The problems generated by drug trafficking cartels, kidnappings, disappearances, extortion, and fuel theft are part of the panorama of insecurity that has permeated residents’ daily lives.
Although in 2022, the intentional homicide rate decreased by 7.1% in comparison with 2021 (from 33,308 to 30,968), this was not enough for the nation’s crime levels to show a reduction compared to other countries around the world that are not in warlike conflicts, such as Syria, Sudan or Yemen.
According to the “Ranking 2022 of the 50 most violent cities in the world” presented by the Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, Mexico concentrated the largest number of cities (17 in total) with the highest homicide rates worldwide per 100,000 inhabitants. The country governed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador is followed by Brazil (10), the United States (7), Colombia (6), South Africa (4), Honduras (2), Puerto Rico (1), Haiti (1), Ecuador (1) and Jamaica (1).
Of the top 10, at least 9 cities were in Mexico. Most of them are located in the north of the country and the lowlands, such as Colima (Colima), Zamora (Michoacán), Ciudad Obregón (Sonora), Zacatecas (Zacatecas), Tijuana (Baja California), Celaya (Guanajuato), Uruapan (Michoacán), Juárez (Chihuahua) and Acapulco (Guerrero).
Colima: the most violent city in the world
Despite a decrease in intentional homicides from 2021 to 2022, the security policy of “hugs, not bullets,” implemented by López Obrador’s administration, has not been enough to reduce the levels of violence in the country. An example of this is the city of Colima, considered the most violent city in the world according to the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.
In Colima, in the western region of Mexico, were reported 601 intentional homicides from the total number of 330,329 registered inhabitants. In other words, the rate was 181.94 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2021 in Colima, there were 195 victims of such crime, which means that in a period of 12 months, homicides tripled.
Although Colima is one of the smallest states in the country, the presence of criminal groups has caused crime rates to increase considerably. The Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) maintains a bloody dispute with the Independent Cartel of Colima, also known as Los Mezcales, for control of territory and drug trafficking.
According to reports from the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena), Jose Bernabe Brizuela, alias La Vaca, was the leader of Los Mezcales in Colima. Even though this individual was arrested in Mexico City in August 2022, armed confrontations between opposing cells persist. An example is the more than 600 intentional homicides perpetrated with firearms during the past year, according to figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).
Northwest Region
Three cities located northwest of the country ranked among the 10 most violent in the world. One of them was Ciudad Obregón, in Sonora, which reported 454 intentional homicides in 2022, with a population of 328,430, with 138.23 victims per 100,000 inhabitants. These figures placed it in third place on the list.
According to files leaked from the Sedena by the Guacamaya group, 13 criminal leaders have been identified in northern Sonora, some of whom have already been arrested, and others died after violent events. Among them is Armando Lopez Aispuro, alias El Licenciado, one of the main plaza bosses of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In 2020, Ciudad Obregon ranked fourth among the 50 most violent cities in the world, according to the same Citizen Council’s ranking. In this region, large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine have also been seized in an attempt to reach the United States for distribution.
Meanwhile, in Juarez, which belongs to Chihuahua, 1,034 intentional homicides were recorded, around 67 per 100,000 inhabitants. That is why it was ranked ninth in the ranking, which was released on February 20.
The Los Mexicles criminal group has been the main culprit behind the crime wave flooding Chihuahua. Emanating as an armed faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, its members began with car theft and later moved into drug trafficking. Today it is considered one of the biggest generators of violence in the state.
On January 1, 2023, this criminal gang staged a massive escape from the Social Reinsertion Center (Cereso) number 3, in which one of its leaders, Alfredo Piñón de la Cruz, alias El Neto, escaped and lost his life a few days later after a confrontation with the authorities.
The border city of Tijuana, Baja California, has been besieged by criminal groups that have caused a wave of murders. In 2022, 2,177 intentional homicides were reported among more than two million inhabitants. That is why it was ranked as the fifth most violent city in the world.
The CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel have maintained bloody clashes in their attempt to take control of the territory. Both criminal organizations, the most powerful in the country, have a common goal: to dominate the trafficking of drugs to the United States, mainly fentanyl, produced in clandestine laboratories.
Due to its location and proximity to the neighboring country, criminal groups based in Tijuana use the border to exchange weapons to supply the drug cartels, which have also ventured into the trafficking of migrants seeking to reach U.S. territory.
North Central Region
Zacatecas ranked fourth among the 50 most violent cities in the world due to the 490 intentional homicides reported in 2022 when 363,996 inhabitants were counted. This is due, in part, to the multiple massacres perpetrated in nightclubs and bars located in the district, where illicit substances are allegedly sold.
Again, disputes between the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel have provoked violent episodes throughout the entity governed by Ricardo Monreal Avila. This, in turn, has led to armed confrontations with the authorities, which left 60 police officers murdered last year, making it the state with the highest number of victims of this crime.
Meanwhile, the city of Celaya, in Guanajuato, ranked sixth, with 740 intentional homicides among its more than 740,000 inhabitants. Unlike in Zacatecas or other states, the CJNG has fought bloody battles with the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL).
Both organizations are dedicated to the sale and distribution of drugs. Still, their criminal business has also expanded into fuel theft, better known as huachicol, due to clandestine pipelines in the region. In addition, intelligence reports have reported that the CSRL is responsible for high rates of extortion.
West and Southwest Region
Michoacán was the only entity in which two of the 10 most violent cities in the world are located: Zamora and Uruapan, with 552 and 282 intentional homicides, respectively. The four-letter cartel has been considered the main generator of violence in the region, as in addition to drug trafficking, they also have other illicit businesses to generate profits.
The CJNG announced its arrival in Uruapan in 2019. Due to its geographic location, the intentions of this criminal group have focused on the production and commercialization of avocados, considered Mexico’s “green gold.” Michoacan is the main exporter of this fruit to the United States, which has caused farmers to be victims of extortion, kidnappings, and disappearances. Added to this are the mining regions in the state, which have also become a business for criminal cells.
In tenth place on the list was the city of Acapulco, Guerrero, due to the 513 intentional homicides registered in 2022. The crime rate for this crime was 65.55 per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to the state’s Secretary of Public Security, Evelio Gómez Méndez, the presence of the CJNG and the Familia Michoacana has been detected in Guerrero, mainly, in addition to other criminal cells such as Los Teclos, Los Ardillos, and the Independent Cartel of Acapulco.
Given these results, Jose Antonio Ortega, president of the organization that presented the ranking, indicated that “Mexico is the result of failed policies applied so far this century” and attributed the high rates of violence to the presence of criminal groups.