Colima on edge as wave of gang violence terrorizes small state

The Jalisco government has intensified security and surveillance on its border with Colima following a recent spate of violent incidents in the neighboring state.

The Colima government says territorial disputes between rival criminal gangs is the main cause of the violence, which over a spell of five days last week registered 17 murders, a series of shootouts and several frightening incidents in which vehicles were set alight.   

The federal Defense Ministry has sent 600 additional National Guard (GN) officers and Marines to Colima in a bid to quell the violence and reassure law-abiding residents.

Additional federal officers will also be deployed alongside Jalisco state police in the seven municipalities that border the state of Colima: Cihuatlán, Cuautitlán de García Barragán, Tolimán, Tonila, Tuxpan, Pihuamo and Zapotitlán de Vadillo.