Jalisco struck by nearly five murders per day in 2013

The murder rate in Jalisco has soared in 2013, with an average of 4.7 killings per day in the first two and a half months of the year.

From January 1 to March 15, 346 people were murdered across the state. The current average of 4.7 homicides a day is significantly higher than the 3.3 recorded in Jalisco in 2011, the most violent of the last six years.

Jalisco’s new Prosecutor General, Carlos Najera expressed surprise that authorities have found little information connecting the killings, but suggested the rise in the murder rate was due to changes within criminal gangs in the state.

At a recent regional security meeting, Mexico’s Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong confirmed that federal forces are coordinating with their local and state counterparts to combat violent crime in Jalisco.

Federal Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam added that the unified state-wide police force that the Jalisco government plans to implement is viable and could become a model for all states across Mexico.