Puerto Rico records 248 violent deaths in six months; police chief justifies operations
Antonio López Figueroa, superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police, defended the operational strategy of the force upon revealing that the island has accumulated 248 murders in the first six months of the year.
Puerto Rico records 248 violent deaths in six months; police chief justifies operations
The island of Puerto Rico has recorded 248 homicides during the first half of the year, according to a statement by the top official of the force, Antonio López Figueroa. The officer, who previously directed the FBI office in the territory, argued that any loss of human life is unacceptable, but that such statistics reinforce—rather than weaken—the direction of police operations.
In a press appearance, López Figueroa contended that the success of law enforcement is not measured exclusively by the number of crimes committed, but by the blows dealt to criminal networks, the seizure of illegal weapons and arrests linked to drug trafficking.
Between January and June, officers made nearly 14,700 arrests, filed more than 7,300 criminal complaints, seized 1,124 unauthorised firearms and removed approximately 75,000 rounds of ammunition from the black market. The institution also executed 738 search warrants, captured 79 gunmen, apprehended 11 fugitives from justice considered highly dangerous and confiscated approximately 1.7 million dollars stemming from illicit activities.
The superintendent detailed that drug trafficking is behind four out of every ten murders investigated so far in 2026. Disputes between criminal groups account for three out of every ten cases, whilst ninety per cent of crimes were perpetrated by gunfire.
López Figueroa stressed that absolute priority continues to be the removal of unauthorised firearms and the dismantling of the gangs generating the bloodshed. Each positive intervention, he said, means a criminal cell weakened, one less gun available and a safer neighbourhood.
Source: Prensa Latina
Source: Google News PR — Crime