- Sheinbaum said homicides fell 48 percent since September 2024, crediting her security policies since taking office in October 2024.
- She attributed the reduction to a multi-pronged strategy: intelligence, state prosecutor coordination, social programs, and a consolidated national guard.
- In June there were on average 41 fewer homicides per day compared with September 2024, Sheinbaum said.
- Police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch said about 500 tons of drugs were seized and almost 60,000 people arrested under the administration.
- Facing US pressure, Trump threatened intervention; Sheinbaum rejected boots on the ground, saying Mexican forces will use US intelligence only.
Homicides in Mexico have fallen by nearly half since September 2024, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday, touting the reduction as a result of her security policies since taking office in October 2024.
“Every day in the month of June there were 41 fewer homicides than September 2024, Sheinbaum told her daily news conference. “This represents saved lives, lives that weren’t lost.”
Mexico has been battered by years of spiraling violence since the government launched an offensive against drug gangs in 2006.
Almost half a million deaths have been reported since then, as well as 130,000 disappearances, according to government reporting.
The 48-percent reduction in homicides was due to a multi-pronged new security strategy, the left-leaning leader said.
She cited greater intelligence-gathering, coordination between state prosecutors, social programs, and consolidating the military-controlled national guard.
It’s a break from the “Hugs not Bullets” policy of her predecessor and political mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which kept soldiers on the streets while dissuading them from direct confrontation with criminals.
The highest ranking police official in Mexico, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said Tuesday that around 500 tons of drugs have been seized and almost 60,000 people have been arrested under the Sheinbaum administration.
The remarks come as Sheinbaum faces pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump to boost efforts at confronting organized crime.
Trump has threatened to intervene on Mexican territory with boots-on-the-ground operations to take down drug cartels, an offer Sheinbaum has repeatedly denied, saying Mexican forces will only use US intelligence to attack criminal groups.
