Attacks on Police Leave 22 Dead in Mexico
Gunmen on the payroll of the Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel staged six attacks Tuesday on officers patrolling highways in the state, a high-level Federal Police commander said
MORELIA, Mexico – At least 20 suspected drug traffickers and two law enforcement agents were killed in a series of attacks on Federal Police officers in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, officials said.
Gunmen on the payroll of the Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel staged six attacks Tuesday on officers patrolling highways in the state, a high-level Federal Police commander told Efe.
“We are talking about attacks that were planned ahead of time, in which individuals armed with rifles hiding in the hills participated, as well as having roads blocked with buses and other vehicles,” the Mexican National Security Commission said.
Fifteen Federal Police officers were wounded in the attacks, officials said.
One of the attacks took place on the highway that links Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, to the Pacific coast, and two other attacks were staged on the road that connects the cities of Tumbiscatio and Arteaga.
Three attacks were carried out in the cities of Aguililla, Mugica and Aquila.
Vehicles were used to block the highway that links Morelia to the coast and the road that connects the coastal highway to the city of Apatzingan, the main base of the Caballeros Templarios, officials said.
Drug traffickers torched several vehicles.
At least five people were killed and eight others wounded when gunmen suspected of being on the Caballeros Templarios’s payroll opened fire Monday on about 200 members of a self-defense group protesting police corruption in Los Reyes, a city in Michoacan.
Residents of the cities of Coalcoman, Buenavista Tomatlan, Los Reyes, Tepalcapetec and Aquila took up arms on Feb. 24 against Los Caballeros Templarios.
The Caballeros Templarios, La Familia Michoacana and Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartels have been fighting for control of Michoacan.
The gangs have been battling each other, as well as new armed vigilante groups that call themselves “community police forces,” in different cities and towns.
The Caballeros Templarios gang was founded in March 2011 by former members of La Familia Michoacana and deals in both synthetic drugs and natural drugs.
The cartel has been fighting rival gangs for control of turf and smuggling routes in Guerrero and Michoacan states, both of which are on the Pacific.
Michoacan’s forests and mountains are used by drug traffickers to grow marijuana and produce synthetic drugs.
Los Caballeros Templarios is suspected of carrying out murders, staging kidnappings and running extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan’s 113 municipalities, officials said. EFE
Gunmen on the payroll of the Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel staged six attacks Tuesday on officers patrolling highways in the state, a high-level Federal Police commander said
MORELIA, Mexico – At least 20 suspected drug traffickers and two law enforcement agents were killed in a series of attacks on Federal Police officers in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, officials said.Gunmen on the payroll of the Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel staged six attacks Tuesday on officers patrolling highways in the state, a high-level Federal Police commander told Efe.
“We are talking about attacks that were planned ahead of time, in which individuals armed with rifles hiding in the hills participated, as well as having roads blocked with buses and other vehicles,” the Mexican National Security Commission said.
Fifteen Federal Police officers were wounded in the attacks, officials said.
One of the attacks took place on the highway that links Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, to the Pacific coast, and two other attacks were staged on the road that connects the cities of Tumbiscatio and Arteaga.
Three attacks were carried out in the cities of Aguililla, Mugica and Aquila.
Vehicles were used to block the highway that links Morelia to the coast and the road that connects the coastal highway to the city of Apatzingan, the main base of the Caballeros Templarios, officials said.
Drug traffickers torched several vehicles.
At least five people were killed and eight others wounded when gunmen suspected of being on the Caballeros Templarios’s payroll opened fire Monday on about 200 members of a self-defense group protesting police corruption in Los Reyes, a city in Michoacan.
Residents of the cities of Coalcoman, Buenavista Tomatlan, Los Reyes, Tepalcapetec and Aquila took up arms on Feb. 24 against Los Caballeros Templarios.
The Caballeros Templarios, La Familia Michoacana and Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartels have been fighting for control of Michoacan.
The gangs have been battling each other, as well as new armed vigilante groups that call themselves “community police forces,” in different cities and towns.
The Caballeros Templarios gang was founded in March 2011 by former members of La Familia Michoacana and deals in both synthetic drugs and natural drugs.
The cartel has been fighting rival gangs for control of turf and smuggling routes in Guerrero and Michoacan states, both of which are on the Pacific.
Michoacan’s forests and mountains are used by drug traffickers to grow marijuana and produce synthetic drugs.
Los Caballeros Templarios is suspected of carrying out murders, staging kidnappings and running extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan’s 113 municipalities, officials said. EFE
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