By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
Killings of police officers are on the rise in Chiapas state, which has become one of the Mexico’s emerging violence hotspots due to disputes between crime groups. In the first four months of 2024, 9 police officers have been killed in the state of Chiapas, far exceeding historical full year counts.
Most recently on April 8th, two state police officers were gunned down while guarding a Telecomm Telégrafos branch (state-run telecommunications company) in the municipality of Ocozocoautla, Chiapas. Local news Diario de Chiapas reported that given that nothing was stolen, the attack was likely not a robbery but a targeted hit.
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| Images from Diario de Chiapas. |
This attack makes 9 police officers killed so far this year, a number which has already surpassed the count from any year recorded by Causa en Común, a think tank focused on security in Mexico. This makes Chiapas the state withe the second most police killings this year, after Guanajuato, which has 20.
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| Graph made by author using Causa en Común database on police killings. Note: 2024 numbers are YTD (Jan 1 – April 9) |
Chiapas has become the front for a bloody territorial dispute between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, as well as local crime syndicates such as the San Juan Chamula Cartel. Symptoms of criminal conflict long absent from the state such as shootouts between armed criminals in up-armored vehicles and security forces on highways, killings of police and political candidates, and narco videos have become common.
Between 2022 and 2023, homicides increased 52% from 377 to 500, but some have suggested the actual increases in deaths are much higher. For example, a local NGO claimed that 25 civilians were killed in the crossfire when the Guardia Nacional engaged armed criminals earlier this month. The government reported that the actual death toll was 10, not 25.
Discrepancies in reporting are compounded by the insecurity in the state. Local journalists face grave threats, and there are some areas where reporters totally avoid, stated Isain Mandujano, a journalist reporting on the region for 20 years.
On April 10, the United States’ Department of State issued a cautionary alert for the Ocozocoautla region, restricting U.S. government employees from traveling there, and warning US citizens of the danger.