KTLA

Report Finds 4 of the 5 World’s Most Violent Cities Are in Mexico — Including Tijuana, Which Tops List

A police officer patrols in an area of the border city of Tijuana on Jan. 19, 2019 in Tijuana, Mexico. (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Tijuana was the most violent city in the world in 2018, according a new report by a Mexican nonprofit group that ranked cities based on their homicide rates.

The report by the Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice found that four out of five of the world’s most violent cities were in Mexico, where despite a military-led war against criminal groups, homicides have been rising in recent years.

In Tijuana, where gangs have been battling over a lucrative domestic drug market, the report tallied 138 killings per 100,000 residents last year, or about seven killings on average per day. In second place, with 111 killings per 100,000 people, was the Mexican resort city of Acapulco. In third place, with 100 killings per 100,000 people, was Caracas, the restive Venezuelan capital, which has been beset by crime and food shortages amid the country’s ongoing political crisis.

The fourth and fifth most violent cities, according to the Citizens’ Council, were two Mexican border cities: Ciudad Victoria, in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua.

Read the full story on LATimes.com