A total of nine people killed and fifteen more arrested was the balance left this Friday by two clashes between drug cartel hitmen, in two municipalities in the state of Michoacán, western Mexico.
The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) informed EFE that the first violent orIt took place this Friday morning on the highway that connects the municipalities of Coalcomán and Chinicuilain a wooded area of the Sierra Madre del Sur.
In this area, agents from the Prosecutor’s Office found a burned-out vehicle with the bullet-ridden corpses of five men, while a sixth body was located a few meters from the place.
Inhabitants of the Sierra Madre del Sur reported to the FGE that prior to the discovery of the bodies, bursts of assault rifles were heard, which suggests the possibility of a confrontation between drug gangs.
In a second event, the Civil Guard (State Police) specified that two antagonistic groups of hit men clashed with large-caliber rifles in the municipality of Uruapan, central Michoacán.
The armed clash occurred during the followingnoon andn two residential areas known as Tejerías and El Planetariowhere three alleged hitmen lost their lives and possibly several more were injured.
Agents of the Civil Guard and the Mexican Army deployed an operation that allowed the capture of fifteen men armed with assault rifles, pistols and bulletproof vests.
The fifteen detainees were sent to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), where agents are investigating which drug trafficking groups they belong to.
The Civil Guard also revealed a series of shootouts between civiliansin the municipality of Buenavista Tomatlán, in the Tierra Caliente region, although so far no deaths, injuries or arrests have been reported.
In Michoacán, self-styled drug trafficking organizations such as the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), the United Cartels, the Tepalcatepec Cartel, the Zicuirán Cartel and the Knights Templar, among others, operate in a blood and fire dispute over the control of illegal activities such as drug production and trafficking, extortion and kidnapping.
