MEXICO CITY , Mexico ( CNN ) -- The number of drug-related killings in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico , so far this year has reached 1,647 , surpassing the death toll for all of 2008 , a city spokesman told CNN . Police gather at the rehab facility where 17 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico , in early September . A spate of killings since the weekend , including 12 on Tuesday , pushed this year 's death toll higher than the 1,607 recorded murders for last year , spokesman Sergio Belmonte told CNN . Killings in Juarez , located across the border from El Paso , Texas , began to spike in early 2008 , when the Sinaloa drug cartel began a turf war with the Juarez cartel . In response , President Felipe Calderon sent federal troops to patrol the city . About 7,500 troops will remain in Juarez at least for another six months at the mayor 's request , officials said . The army presence has helped curb the violent daylight shootouts that damaged the city 's image and threatened its economy , but killings and reprisals among street-level dealers continue to mount , Belmonte said . On Monday , 635 new police officers graduated from the police academy and joined the ranks of a force that had been thinned by about 700 in the city 's effort to root out corrupt cops . The police department is now up to more than 2,600 officers , Belmonte said . Another 400 cadets are expected to join the force in October . Officials hope that the larger police force , together with investments in police equipment and a new crime-stoppers phone system , will turn things around for the city . More than 5,100 have been killed in drug-cartel violence across Mexico this year , according to a tally by the newspaper El Universal .
Killings since the weekend pushed 2009 death toll past 1,607 killed in 2008 . Killings increased as Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels began turf war in 2008 . In response , President Felipe Calderon sent federal troops to patrol the city . More than 5,100 killed in 2009 drug-cartel violence in Mexico , says newspaper .