Juárez security under revision after 35 homicides on weekend

After 35 homicides in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, between Friday and Sunday, police chiefs and other security officials met yesterday to review the border city’s overall security situation.

State police commissioner Óscar Alberto Aparicio Avendaño called on security forces to redouble efforts to combat crime through coordinated actions aimed at both preventing and prosecuting

offenses. Among the other attendees were a state prosecutor, a Federal Police commissioner, the municipal public security chief, several high-level state police officials and army personnel.

Aparicio said that working to strengthen and improve security strategies at such meetings was stipulated by the Chihuahua government’s State Development Plan, which also seeks to promote

cooperation between all three levels of government. “We have a great responsibility and commitment to Chihuahua society. Every day, they demand more results from us. That’s why it’s

important to analyze what we are doing and work on what can be improved,” Aparicio said. “There are more of us good guys and I’m sure that with effective strategies, coupled with the

valuable support of citizens, we will have better surveillance, better results and a reinforcement of the actions implemented by security forces.” Of the 35 murders in the three-day period,

21 occurred on Saturday, 10 were committed on Friday and four occurred Sunday. Two separate incidents within the space of a single hour Saturday left 11 people dead. Six people were murdered

in a home in the Los Alcades neighborhood while celebrating Mexico’s victory against South Korea in the team’s second World Cup match in Russia. Shortly after, five men were killed inside a

barber’s shop in the center of the city. Armed men in two vehicles fired repeatedly at the people inside the business. A sixth person was wounded in the incident and transferred to a city

hospital. Another victim of the wave of violence was a three-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet late Sunday night, the state Attorney General’s office said. The boy was rushed to a

local medical facility just before midnight but died upon arrival. Violence continued yesterday in Juárez, where there were reports of several more homicides. Police officers found the

bodies of two men in the neighborhood of Chihuahua and a 22-year-old man was shot and killed in the Villas del Sur district. There were at least seven other murders in different parts of the

city. _Narcomantas_, or narco signs, also made an appearance at four different points around the city yesterday including a kindergarten, according to media reports. The signs reportedly

accused a criminal group of killing innocent people in the city as well as carrying out extortion activities. Between January 1 and yesterday, there were 503 homicides in Ciudad Juárez, 45

more than in the same period last year. Juárez — which is on the opposite side of the border to El Paso, Texas — was ranked the 20th most dangerous city in the world last year, according to

a study by a Mexican non-governmental organization. _Source: Reforma (sp), Milenio (sp), El Diario mx (sp), Debate (sp) _