Organized crime has dealt a heavy blow to the largest operator of convenience stores in Latin America. Femsa, controller of Cruz Verde pharmacies, suffered the burning of 25 facilities owned by it in the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato.
The events come following a series of arrests that occurred on Tuesday night, when the Mexican army stormed a place where leaders of two criminal groups were, which triggered roadblocks, burning of vehicles and businesses during the night of Tuesday.
Several Oxxo stores, also controlled by Femsa, were partially or totally burned down during the events, the company told Bloomberg. No workers or customers were injured.
According to the AP agency, the operation took place 50 kilometers north of Jalisco and left five detainees and a dead suspect. Then there were 11 more detainees, linked to the fires.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador indicated during his morning press conference that apparently there was “a meeting of two gangs” when elements of the Ministry of Defense arrived and “there was a confrontation, there were arrests, this is what caused the protests, the burning of vehicles, not only in Jalisco but in Guanajuato”.
It is still not clear who were arrested, nor the organizations to which they belonged, but it is presumed that those who were at the meeting were “bosses” of the cartel.
The strongest cartel in that area is the Jalisco New Generation, whose leader, Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho”, is one of the most wanted drug traffickers in Mexico and the United States.
Blockades and roadblocks with burning vehicles are a common reaction of criminal groups when there are major arrests in order to block and distract the authorities. In this case, they sowed fear in different parts of Jalisco and the neighboring state of Guanajuato, including Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico.
Femsa indicated that it is collaborating with the authorities to find those responsible for the incidents. At the end of July, the company had 20,196 Oxxo stores in Mexico alone, according to its latest results report.
