A Brief Report on the Crime in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Although it registers a downward trend, Quintana Roo is the state with the third-highest rate of high impact crimes, informed General Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, Secretary of National Defense.

Within the framework of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's morning conference, which he gave this Thursday from the Military City, on the mainland of Isla Mujeres, on the occasion of his monthly visit to supervise the works of the Mayan Train, the head of the Army reported on the state's public security situation.

Sandoval González first spoke about human trafficking, a crime in which the state ranks third in the country with an upward trend. He said that so far this year there are nine cases, half of the total number registered in 2021, and three of them were reported only last March.

Then, he gave details of transportation robbery, in which Quintana Roo holds the fifth place, with 21 accumulated reports last month and decreasing behavior.

Meanwhile, regarding the crime of extortion, Luis Cresencio explained that between March 1 and 31, five investigation files were initiated, although so far this year there are already 20 cases, against 109 that were counted in all of 2021. With these figures, he pointed out, Quintana Roo is in sixth place nationally and also maintains a downward trend.

In terms of kidnappings, the peninsular state reported only one case last month, the only one so far in 2022, placing it in ninth place.

However, in terms of intentional homicides, the head of the Sedena pointed out that 47 crimes of this type were recorded in March and 111 in the first quarter, but he highlighted that in general, the entity registers, in the same way, a decreasing behavior.

"In these homicides, in January and February there were 30 and 29 intentional homicides linked to organized crime, in March it went up to 47 and so far in April we have registered 27; that is to say, the trend is also downward in these crimes linked to organized crime," he said.

The federal official also talked about car theft, with 101 cases reported last March and a downward incidence that has the entity in 18th place, with 271 complaints so far this year against 1,315 in 2021.

"The municipalities with the highest crime incidence in terms of intentional homicides, vehicle theft, and drug dealing are the municipalities with the largest population and here we have them, Benito Juarez, Solidaridad, and Othon P. Blanco, these three municipalities have 88 percent of these homicides that occur in the state, they have nine thousand 108, the state total is 10 thousand 377", he emphasized.

Finally, he said that so far this administration and up to last March, Quintana Roo appears in 17th place for cases of intentional homicides, with 1,990 victims, a figure below the national average, which is 2,906.