Mexico City - Drug-related killings in Mexico reached 3,002 since January, 76.5 per cent more than in the same period last year, according to a count published Thursday by the daily El Universal.

The numbers included data until June 17.

Over the same period in 2007, killings linked to organized crime had amounted to 1,701. However, deaths escalated at the end of the year, to bring the total for 2008 up to 6,290, more than double the figure for 2007.

This year, the most violent state is northern Chihuahua, on the US border, which includes the troubled city of Ciudad Juarez. In Chihuahua, the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels are fighting for control of cocaine-trafficking routes into the United States.

In Chihuahua, there have been 1,198 killings so far this year, 40 per cent of the country total. Next in line were the states of Durango, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Baja California and Michoacan. The country average is as high as 17 killings per day.

Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006, the Mexican government has deployed about 45,000 military officers across the country to fight the powerful drug cartels.

Although the number of killings went down at the beginning of this year, the violence escalated again in recent weeks. Twenty-two people were killed Wednesday, and 37 the day before.

Since January, 18 military officers have been killed, including retired general Mauro Enrique Tello Quinones, who advised the resort city of Cancun on issues related to the fight against organized crime. (dpa)