Mexico Drug-Related Killings Fall to 901 in June, Milenio Says

Killings related to drug violence in Mexico fell 17 percent in June from the month before, reaching the lowest level this year, the newspaper Milenio reported today on its website.

Last month’s death toll of 901 pushed the number of killings since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 to 53,074, according to the Mexico City-based daily. The number of killings in May reached 1,091, Milenio reported on June 1.

During the first six months of this year, 6,129 people were killed in incidents related to drug violence, Milenio said.

Last month, Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Coahuila were the states with the most killings. The state of Mexico registered the biggest increase in killings with a total of 61 from 22 in June, the newspaper said.

Drug-related murders totaled 47,515 from December 2006 through September 2011, the attorney general’s office said on Jan. 11.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Enrique Arrioja in Mexico City at jarrioja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jose Enrique Arrioja at jarrioja@bloomberg.net