Suspected drug-related killings rose more than fivefold to 1,653 in Mexico's northern border city of Ciudad Juarez in 2008, according to an AFP count based on police reports.
The figure for 2007 was 318 dead.
Drug cartels, including the powerful Juarez and Sinaloa gangs, are fighting for control of key trafficking routes into the United States across Mexico, particularly in border areas where violence has spiraled.
More than 5,300 died countrywide last year in drug-related attacks, including beheadings and massacres, -- over double the figure for 2007 -- according to the country's top prosecutor.
But Ciudad Juarez, across the border from the US city of El Paso, Texas, has seen an eruption of crime, including extortion and kidnappings and attacks to finish targets off in hospitals, that has caused hundreds to flee.
The 2008 deaths included 75 police, and 46 bodies found in two hidden graves last February.
Most deaths occurred in public places with AK-47s and nine milimeter caliber weapons, according to the prosecutor's office.
Violence marked the start of 2009, with three deaths reported in the border city on Friday, and eight the previous day.
President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug-related crime at the start of his presidency in 2006 involving the deployment of more than 36,000 troops across the country, including Ciudad Juarez.
Source: AFP Global Edition
