2017 Mexico's most violent year in two decades: officials

MEXICO CITY: 2017 was Mexico's most violent year in two decades, with 23,101 murders carried out between January and November, according to official figures released Friday.
The number of murders in the first 11 months of this year surpassed the previous record of 22,409 killings during the whole of 2011.

In November alone, 2,212 murders were recorded -- while 2,380 killings were carried out in October, making it the most violent month since the authorities began keeping records two decades ago.

Violence has surged across Mexico since former president Felipe Calderon's government declared war against the country's powerful drug cartels in late 2006.

This year, the violence spread to states which had previously escaped clashes between cartels -- including Baja California Sur, a northwestern state popular with tourists where the murder rate has more than doubled from last year's total.