Violence has increased considerably in the state of Guanajuato, in part because the local Santa Rosa de Lima mafia and the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel compete for drug trafficking markets and routes, fuel thefts and the extortion market.
Seventeen people were murdered in total on Saturday in the state of Guanajuato, the most violent of Mexico's 32 federal entities. Several of these murders are the consequence of three “multihomicides».
Violence even overtook the colonial town of San Miguel Allende, a favored destination for American retirees, where three men were shot and killed during the funeral of a family member. Five other people were injured.
Three men and a woman were killed in a home in Irapuato, in this state where two criminal gangs are fighting. The victims were killed by armed men who entered their homes, also injuring a minor, police sources said. Furthermore, two men and a woman were shot and killed by unknown assailants as they left a supermarket in the town of Juventino Rosas.
Competition between the mafia and a cartel
In addition to these three multiple killings, seven people were murdered on Saturday in the municipalities of Celaya, Salvatierra, Valle de Santiago, León and Guanajuato, the capital also known for its annual theater festival. As usual, the prosecution announced in a press release the opening of investigations, without further details on the possible perpetrators of the crimes.
An industrial state, tourist and cultural destination, Guanajuato has been overtaken by violence in recent years. The local Santa Rosa de Lima mafia and the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, one of the two most powerful in the country, compete for drug trafficking markets and routes, fuel theft and the extortion market. Last week, a vineyard industrialist, Ricardo Vega, was assassinated in Guanajuato.
A total of 2,990 people were murdered in Guanajuato between January and December 16, according to official figures, making it yet another year the most violent state in Mexico.
