295 homicides in first six months this year in Tijuana

Compared to the same period last year, homicides in Tijuana have increased by 19 percent, according to a citizen's group.

From January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015, there were 295 homicides in the city, Genaro de la Torre, president of the Citizens’ Council on Public Safety (Consejo Ciudadano de Seguridad Pública de Tijuana) told El Sol de Tijuana in a story published July 24.

The newspaper provided the following monthly breakdown in homicides for the six-month period: 26 in January, 37 in February, 39 in March, 54 in April, 70 in May and 69 in June.

De la Torre told El Sol he is confident that the numbers will soon decrease for two reasons. First, he said, it is typical for the first six months of any year to have more homicides than the last six. Secondly, various Tijuana law-enforcement agencies have made many arrests in recent weeks of those believed to be behind most of the killings.

"We have seen many detentions by intelligence and different police agencies, which we believe and are certain are going to reduce this trend because many of the cells that have been de-activated are those of various killers who have been detained, and (the numbers) have to go down,” he said.