Mexico: Three police officers killed in Baja California Sur Dec. 3 /update 2

Event

On Sunday, December 3, a group of gunmen killed three police officers in the city of La Paz, in Baja California Sur. According to local sources, the police officers were part of a special force tasked with patrolling tourist zones of the city.

This incident is the latest in a long line of murders and other violence to hit Baja California Sur in recent months. On November 20, gunmen killed the president of the State Commission on Human Rights for Baja California Sur.

Context

The violence has been attributed to fierce turf wars between competing and increasingly fragmented cartels. This trend has been observed in much of the country since last year's arrest of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín (El Chapo) Guzmán, with cartels adopting increasingly militarized tactics such as weaponized drones.

More than 1000 soldiers and 200 security agents - along with more than USD 50 million in investments for intensified security measures - have been deployed to the area since April 2017, but the increased security presence does not seem to be having a marked impact on violence rates. While attacks typically target rival gangs and government figures, bystanders are sometimes caught up in the crossfire.

This violence is poised to continue as long as the structural causes of insecurity - such as institutional weakness, corrupt and deficient security forces, poor public services, and a political establishment susceptible to bribes - are not effectively addressed.

Advice

Individuals are advised to remain vigilant when in Baja California Sur.

Due to extreme levels of violence linked to the presence of various armed groups, some Western governments advise against travel to a large portion of Mexican territory, including Guerrero, Sinaloa, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas states and the northeastern border with the United States, as well as to a lesser extent Colima, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, and Sonora states.