Medellin Homicide Rate Tumbles After Mafia Pact
Medellin Homicide Rate Tumbles After Mafia Pact
Written by Natalie Southwick
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Homicides in Medellin, Colombia were down over 60 percent in October compared to the same month last year, a decrease likely linked to a pax mafiosa struck between the city's two most powerful criminal organizations.
In October 2013, Medellin recorded 44 murders, representing a 63 percent decrease compared to the 121 murders recorded in October 2012, reported El Tiempo. The killings took the total number of murders in Medellin this year to 798, putting the city on track to end the year significantly below the 2012 total of 1,247.
Officials credited the favorable statistics to greater investment in security and coordination between police and the municipal government. However, the Popular Training Institute (IPC), a Medellin-based NGO, attributed the decrease in violence to the recent truce between Medellin's two major criminal groups, the Oficina de Envigado and the Urabeños.
IPC director Diego Herrera noted that although murders have decreased, this drop has corresponded with a rise in disappearances. IPC also noted that criminal activities such as micro-trafficking and forced displacement have not decreased.
More:
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/medellin-homicide-rate-down-60-from-2012