12 murders in two hours among dozens killed as wave of violence strikes Juárez

Gunmen burst into homes and opened fire on busy streets in an eruption of violence that has left more than two dozen dead in Juárez in recent days.

Juárez and Chihuahua state police officials on Saturday announced they had arrested three suspects linked to a rash of homicides that began Thursday.

Authorities said that the bloodshed was believed to be linked to fighting between criminal groups.

The wave of violence began with a dozen killings within two hours Thursday night, including a quadruple homicide and two triple-homicides.

El Mexicano newspaper reported 15 homicides Thursday and another 10 Friday, including a shooting during morning rush hour at a traffic light near the Puente Rotario.

"We are busy and worried without a doubt. We have various interpretations of what happened and what is happening," Juárez Mayor Armando Cabada told reporters Friday.

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Local and state police were working to determine what criminal groups were involved, Cabada said on a video on his Facebook page.

The rash of killings follows a jump in homicides in Juárez last year with more than 770 deaths, including more than 80 in December.

In 2016, there were 543 murders in Juárez compared with 3,000 in 2010 during the depths of a drug cartel war, according to data from the Juárez Security and Justice Board.

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Juárez police, Chihuahua state police and Mexican Federal Police have been meeting to coordinate strategies to deal with the upsurge in violence, officials said.

There was no indication that the latest murders were linked to a body recently left hanging from a bridge in the outskirts of Juárez, state police said Saturday.

Speaking Friday after presenting 200 new patrol vehicles to municipal police, Cabada said that the killings did not mean that Juárez was losing advances it had made lowering crime in recent years.

"Sure, it generates uneasiness and is worrisome but the people understand it’s not an issue against civil society, against people who earn an honorable living," Cabada said. "It’s a matter between them, those dedicated to this kind of (criminal) activity."

Cabada and other officials have complained about a "revolving door" judicial system that they say is quick to release drug-dealing suspects.

Drug cartel-related violence has raged in various parts of Chihuahua state in the last year in battles between groups affiliated with the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.