In the city of Medellin, Colombia, the number of killing has increased, with the blame being put on many of the hillside gangs looking to settle scores, however, changes in the underworld of the city are the reason for the increase in the number of murders.
There was a total of 626 homicides in Medellin in 2018 which is a 7.6% increased compared to the year. Over 50% of those murders came asa result of battles between groups.
Communa 13, so a large portion of the murders take place there, with the wester district of Medellin seeing the biggest increase in deaths rising to 91 from 48 when compared to 2017. On the steep hills, battles took place between gangs, also known as combos in an attempt to take control of extortion rings and drug sales.
The second largest city in Colombia, Medellin had actually seen a decline in deaths for a number of years straight. There was a total of 496 murders in 2015, which was the lowest number seen for decades but killings have been slowly increasing since then.
Claudia Carrasquilla, a top prosecutor in Colombia has put the increase in homicides down to the capture of leaders of the Oficina de Envigado, which is a coalition that seek to control a large portion of criminal activity that takes place in Medellin. As a result of this, it has meant that many different oganiszations have started to try to take back control of territory and so, the arrests are considered to be the catalyst for this fight for territory.
