🔗 Share this article Everyday Murders in the nation Fall Thirty-Seven Percent During Claudia Sheinbaum, As per Official Figures The typical figure of everyday killings each month in Mexico has decreased by 37% since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, per fresh administrative statistics. However, public safety analysts have cautioned that murder data might not indicate improved national safety. Marked Reduction in Daily Numbers There was an average of close to 55 murders a day in November versus almost 87 when Sheinbaum took the leadership in the previous September. This data was provided by the head of the country’s national public security system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's regular news conference on a recent Tuesday. “The figures in killings that have been recorded during these past months is remarkably important,” the President remarked, explaining that the previous month the least amount of homicides were documented for any November in the last decade. Recent Background and Official Plan Intense cartel internal conflicts, coupled with the government’s highly militarised efforts to confront the cartels, have made Mexico’s homicide rate escalate in recent years. The rate peaked at a record high of 36,773 homicides in 2020, as reported by the nation's national statistics agency. That resulted in Mexico a homicide figure over four times greater than that of the United States. From that point, murders have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 the previous year. Claudia Sheinbaum has attributed her national security approach for an seemingly more pronounced reduction in killings in the current year. At a press conference in the summer, the head of state said: “We have a strategy, we have oversight of the plan, and we have specific tracking locality by locality in some cases. The plan functions. And we have to continue working at it daily.” The central elements of the President's safety strategy include: Reinforcing Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigation capabilities. Increased collaboration between various departments. Analyst Skepticism and Statistical Concerns Nevertheless, public safety researchers urged caution that using homicide data to assess the situation of improved security was misleading. This is particularly true in light of the uptick in other crimes such as abductions. “It would be excellent information if this was a decrease, but I think we can’t just concentrate on the murder data and think: ‘Oh well, good,’” said Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an authority on Mexican cartels. “I would be tentatively positive.” According to the policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, homicides overall fell by more than 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year versus the same period last year. However, disappearances have gone up by 15% and in some regions have risen by up to 200%. “Statistics on homicides is no longer useful for estimating the reality of violence,” said Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who do not have the capacity or the desire to accurately recognize and categorize corpses. Secondly, organized [criminals] … have the capability to hide violence through disappearances.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month averages of daily killings was additionally an issue because it could mask periods when there were notably spiking levels of killings. “Employing the daily average makes spikes of violence invisible,” he said. Arrests and Seizures as Metrics of Success An area where the administration can highlight the success of its security plan is on arrests and seizures. Almost 40,000 individuals were arrested between October 2024 and November 2025 for high-impact crimes, per official data. Over 20,000 guns were seized and 311 tonnes of narcotics confiscated. “Donald Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of not acting, because actually she is doing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of confiscations, and all the tactical degrading of criminal groups. It’s very politically beneficial,” commented Vargas. Persistent Violence and Public Frustration Yet despite these measures, Mexico continues to be plagued by extreme violence, with several states in the midst of cartel-driven violence. Last month there was a notable killing of a well-liked local official in the region of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors assassinated in the past 12 months. A short time after, many thousands of young people protested in the capital and throughout the nation to express their anger at corruption and drug violence. “The administration frames [data] in a manner to build a story of security. From a political standpoint it’s highly potent, from a social perspective it’s highly debatable,” the analyst concluded.
The typical figure of everyday killings each month in Mexico has decreased by 37% since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, per fresh administrative statistics. However, public safety analysts have cautioned that murder data might not indicate improved national safety. Marked Reduction in Daily Numbers There was an average of close to 55 murders a day in November versus almost 87 when Sheinbaum took the leadership in the previous September. This data was provided by the head of the country’s national public security system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's regular news conference on a recent Tuesday. “The figures in killings that have been recorded during these past months is remarkably important,” the President remarked, explaining that the previous month the least amount of homicides were documented for any November in the last decade. Recent Background and Official Plan Intense cartel internal conflicts, coupled with the government’s highly militarised efforts to confront the cartels, have made Mexico’s homicide rate escalate in recent years. The rate peaked at a record high of 36,773 homicides in 2020, as reported by the nation's national statistics agency. That resulted in Mexico a homicide figure over four times greater than that of the United States. From that point, murders have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 the previous year. Claudia Sheinbaum has attributed her national security approach for an seemingly more pronounced reduction in killings in the current year. At a press conference in the summer, the head of state said: “We have a strategy, we have oversight of the plan, and we have specific tracking locality by locality in some cases. The plan functions. And we have to continue working at it daily.” The central elements of the President's safety strategy include: Reinforcing Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigation capabilities. Increased collaboration between various departments. Analyst Skepticism and Statistical Concerns Nevertheless, public safety researchers urged caution that using homicide data to assess the situation of improved security was misleading. This is particularly true in light of the uptick in other crimes such as abductions. “It would be excellent information if this was a decrease, but I think we can’t just concentrate on the murder data and think: ‘Oh well, good,’” said Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an authority on Mexican cartels. “I would be tentatively positive.” According to the policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, homicides overall fell by more than 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year versus the same period last year. However, disappearances have gone up by 15% and in some regions have risen by up to 200%. “Statistics on homicides is no longer useful for estimating the reality of violence,” said Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who do not have the capacity or the desire to accurately recognize and categorize corpses. Secondly, organized [criminals] … have the capability to hide violence through disappearances.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month averages of daily killings was additionally an issue because it could mask periods when there were notably spiking levels of killings. “Employing the daily average makes spikes of violence invisible,” he said. Arrests and Seizures as Metrics of Success An area where the administration can highlight the success of its security plan is on arrests and seizures. Almost 40,000 individuals were arrested between October 2024 and November 2025 for high-impact crimes, per official data. Over 20,000 guns were seized and 311 tonnes of narcotics confiscated. “Donald Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of not acting, because actually she is doing a lot with these thousands of arrests, many thousands of confiscations, and all the tactical degrading of criminal groups. It’s very politically beneficial,” commented Vargas. Persistent Violence and Public Frustration Yet despite these measures, Mexico continues to be plagued by extreme violence, with several states in the midst of cartel-driven violence. Last month there was a notable killing of a well-liked local official in the region of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors assassinated in the past 12 months. A short time after, many thousands of young people protested in the capital and throughout the nation to express their anger at corruption and drug violence. “The administration frames [data] in a manner to build a story of security. From a political standpoint it’s highly potent, from a social perspective it’s highly debatable,” the analyst concluded.