Mexico's war on drugs
Last year in Mexico was a record breaking year based on murders with 25,339 people murdered.
With some parts of Mexico the homicide rate per 100,000 residents climbed to 69.1 in Baja California Sur and climbed to an even further rate of 93.6 in the Pacific Coast.
Mexico is suffering from a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking that has left almost 200,000 dead since December 2006. This has resulted from when former president Felipe Calderon’s government launched a controversial military anti-drug operation. Though this operation intended to stop drug trafficking and prevent any deaths as a result of it, it’s believed that has only led to more murders and attacks.
Earlier in 2017 an unmarked grave containing up to 250 human skulls was uncovered and this is believed to be linked to one of the several criminal gangs involved in the drug trafficking scene.
However, these gangs have also diversified with some trafficking in stolen gasoline, engaging in extortion, kidnapping for ransom or people trafficking.
To address the issue and prevent any further deaths Mexico’s congress approved another controversial internal security law last week, which would formalize the military's role in domestic security. This drew criticism from rights groups concerned about the militarization of the country, with UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein saying earlier this month that it “risks weakening incentives for the civilian authorities to fully assume their law enforcement roles”.
Yet, even with this new law in place the war on drugs seems to be continuing with no signs of the crimes slowing down.