Criminal killings continue around Mexico

Some 20-25 people were killed or found dead in presumed criminal incidents in Mexico on 4 March, 12 of them including four policemen, in the north-western state of Sinaloa, Proceso reported. The review counted 30 presumed victims of crime around Mexico for 3-4 March. The policemen were said kidnapped from a security post or office in the district of Rosario in Sinaloa on 4 March and found dead within hours alongside three civilians, the review reported, citing comments from the mayor of Rosario. Victims of the day included two Guatemalans aged 19 and 17 killed in the southern state of Chiapas, and five people killed in the western state of Michoacán. The Guatemalans were found with their throats slit in a bar where they worked near Guatemala's frontier, their employer reportedly said. On 5 March two men were shot dead in the districts of Empalme and Esperanza in the north-western state of Sonora, Milenio reported, and five were killed in Mexico City early that day, Proceso reported. On 4 March, authorities in Estado de México, the state outside the capital, blamed the cartel Familia Michoacana and "independent groups" for a recent surge in crime and killings in the state. Eleven or more deaths were reported in the state over 1-3 March, according to Proceso. The state's response includes boosting coordination between municipal and state police forces in 119 of the state's 125 municipal districts, in the form of a Coordinated State Police (Policía Estatal Coordinada) under a Single Command (Mando Único). The governor of Estado de México Eruviel Ávila Villegas signed a document on 4 March establishing the Single Police Command in 119 municipalities that have accepted a deal that may reduce their policing powers, Proceso reported. Ávila said the plan was intended to "back" the districts, home to 90 per cent of the state's population he stated, and "for that we shall be respectful of their own form, plans and strategies. The intention is to give people more security." The army and Federal Police separately disarmed on 4 or 5 March 80 municipal policemen of the district of Tlaquiltenango in the state of Morelos, following the district police chief's arrest on 3 March for suspected ties to crime, and took over the district's security while the policemen had their backgrounds checked. The mayor of Tlalquiltenango later said only 36 of the policemen were found have legal permits to carry arms, Proceso reported.