Mexico City, Aug. 23 (Xinhua-RHC), -- Mexico has witnessed a substantial fall in crimes such as murders, kidnappings, extortion and robbery in comparison with last year, President Enrique Peña Nieto said Friday.

In the first seven months of the year, the rate of intentional homicides dropped 27.8 percent year on year, the president told a ceremony presenting the National Gendarmerie, a new Mexican security force.

"The progress is encouraging, though we still have to redouble our efforts," he said, adding that the Gendarmerie, as part of the Federal Police, will be deployed "to regions where the work of the productive sector and national security facilities are threatened."

Authorities have also succeeded in capturing 84 of the country's most wanted criminals, the president added.

Mexico's high-crime areas are those along its border with the United States, where drug trafficking is big business and major cartels fight each other for control of distribution routes.