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You probably don’t need a statistician to tell you that the number of murders recorded in June was way up.  But how much exactly?  Well, figures posted on the Belize Crime Observatory website show that there were 350% more murders in June of 2019, than there were in the same month of 2018.  That’s 4 murders in June 18, and 18 murders in June of this year.  

While that is an alarming increase and a very violent month - up tot the end of June there has been a considerable decrease in murders. The 66 murders recorded up to the end of June, 2019 are 16 fewer than the number recorded up to June of 2018.  That’s a 20% decrease overall so far for 2019.

Notably, the Observatory reports, that in June, quote,  “About 9 out of every 10 murders happened in the Belize District. All Belize City murders were deemed to have been gang-related.â€￾  That includes the murder at sea of the Swallow Caye Five.

We note that June’s figures could have been even worse; there are two San Pedro men still missing, and the the killing of Nestor Vasquez Jr has not yet been classified or included in those figures.