One death and several burned vehicles and businesses left clashes between the military and drug traffickers in two states of Mexico on Tuesday night, authorities reported Wednesday.
The clashes broke out in the municipality of Ixtlahuacán del Río (Jalisco, west), after the uniformed officers broke into a meeting between drug traffickers.
In retaliation, and to prevent the arrival of official reinforcements, the criminals launched attacks in towns in Jalisco and Guanajuato (center), two of the six states that account for half of the homicides committed in the country, most attributed to crime. organized.
“Apparently there was a meeting, a meeting of two gangs and (…) elements of the Ministry of Defense arrived, there were clashes, there were arrests,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday during his usual press conference.
A gunman was killed, and five other people were captured in Jalisco, reported the local governor, Enrique Alfaro.
Local media reported that among the detainees there are members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful in the country.
López Obrador confirmed that the operation caused criminal groups to burn vehicles to hinder the actions of the authorities in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (capital of Jalisco) and in the neighboring state of Guanajuato.
“There are already detainees both in Jalisco and Guanajuato of those who were at the meeting (…), apparently leaders of criminal groups,” said López Obrador.
In Jalisco alone, at least 13 vehicles and a grocery store were burned.
Similar actions were unleashed in municipalities of Guanajuato, where two alleged attackers were captured, according to the local government.
A video surveillance image shows the moment when gunmen intercept a driver in Zapopan and, after forcing him to get out, set his car on fire.
Following the incidents, the US consulate in Guadalajara issued a security alert and asked its staff to follow instructions from local authorities and seek safe havens.
Last March, the US consulate in the city of Nuevo Laredo closed indefinitely after the capture of a capo claimed by the United States unleashed shootings in which the diplomatic headquarters was hit.
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