Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Wednesday that Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo, as well as national defense and Navy leaders, would be in Sonora next week as part of an effort to address increasing violence in the state just south of Arizona.
They'll meet with Sonora's governor and mayors of five major cities, he said.
"A few days ago I learned of the security situation in Sonora," he said during his daily press conference Wednesday.
The murder rate in Sonora has increased sharply this year, particularly in the southern part of the state. And violence in the coastal city of Guaymas led the U.S. Consul in the capital city Hermosillo to issue a travel advisory for that area last month.
Lopez Obrador also said he will also address security issues with state leaders when he's in Sonora to inaugurate a currently incomplete four-lane highway project.
"On Sept. 2, I will be in Hermosillo, and we will have a security meeting then, too" he said.
