Mayor Valentin Lavin Valentin Lavin Romero via Facebook

A local mayor in central Mexico was shot dead in a town hall, authorities reported Wednesday, after the politician had survived a previous assassination attempt.

The town of Temoac is located in the state of Morelos, a region close to Mexico City where several drug cartels are active.

Mayor Valentin Lavin, who was allied to President Claudia Sheinbaum's leftist party, had already survived an armed attack in January, according to local media reports.

Forensic experts and police officers located his dead body inside local government facilities, the state prosecutor's office said.

An operation to arrest those responsible for the crime was underway, it added in a statement.

Almost 100 mayors have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, when drug-related violence surged, official figures show. Since the current government took office in October 2024, 14 mayors have been murdered in Mexico, three in 2026, Uno TV reported this week.

The country was particularly shocked by the fatal shooting of Mayor Carlos Manzo in the state of Michoacan last November, during Day of the Dead celebrations.

Criminal gangs often conduct attacks against local officials in Mexico, especially in areas where cartels fight for territory.

Last week, attackers shot dead the husband of a Mexican councilwoman, with the gunfire also injuring the politician and her daughter as the family was reportedly on their way to a school graduation, authorities said.

Sheinbaum said July 14 that homicides in Mexico have fallen by nearly half since September 2024, touting the reduction as a result of her security policies since taking office.

Mexico has faced years of escalating violence since the government launched an offensive against drug cartels in 2006. Nearly 500,000 people have been killed and around 130,000 have disappeared since then, government data shows.

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