According to media reports, in only three days (July 29-31), 105 people were killed in 17 Mexican states, including Judge Juan Morales, of the Eduardo Neri municipality in Guerrero, and the ex-public prosecutor of Yajalón, Chiapas, Manuel Moreno Jimenez. All these were murders related to organized crime.
Guerrero
The news website Sin Embargo called it a weekend of horror with Guerrero leading the way with 19 executions, 11 of them in Acapulco.
On Saturday morning, seven members of a family were shot and killed by attackers with AK-47 assault rifles in the municipality of Tepecoacuilco. Two of the victims were children six and fourteen years old. Relatives reported that four other minors were somehow able to flee the scene and survive the attack, although two of them, aged three and ten, suffered bullet wounds.
Photo: milenio.com
Michoacán
In Michoacán, 10 charred bodies were discovered inside a truck in the northern municipality of Cuitzeo. Since the vehicle was found near Pemex pipelines, authorities speculated the men were murdered to settle scores between rival gangs engaged in stealing petroleum products.
Nevertheless, on Monday August 1, the Michoacán State Attorney General announced that the mayor of Alvaro Obregón, Juan Carlos Arreygue, ordered the arrest and murder of the 10 vicitims in Cuitzeo. The mayor and two other officials have been arrested by state authorities, accused of 10 counts of first-degree murder.
There were more killings in Veracruz, State of México, Tamaulipas, Mexico City, Zacatecas and Guanajuato, adding up to the worst violence seen since 80 crime gang-related murders were recorded in one day during the administration of former president Felipe Calderón, stated Sin Embargo.
Photo: milenio.com
Mexico City newspaper Milenio reported that, during the month of July, the number of homicides related to organized crime reached 1,054, their highest level since March 2013 when the newspaper, which tracks the figures, recorded 1,048.
It was the third consecutive month in which the numbers have increased over those of last year. So far this year crime-related killings — at 6,014 — are up 33% over the same period in 2015.
Guanajuato
In the city of Salamanca, in less than 12 hours three dead bodies were found. All the victims showed signs of having been violently murdered, including a man who was beheaded.
One dead man with a gunshot to the head was found on the shoulder of the Salamanca-Valle de Santiago road, not far from the community of Lobos, in the municipality of Salamanca.
The second body was found four hours later, under the bridge that divides the municipalities of Irapuato and Salamanca, on the Federal Highway.
Twenty minutes after the second finding, the body of a decapitated man was located. The man was naked, and the head, lying nearby. The incident occurred near a small creek located in the “Comunidad la Ordeña”.
Photo: sinembargo.mx
Following the discovery of the three victims, Salamanca’s Mayor, Antonio Arredondo, declared that according to the investigations, these deaths may be related to criminal groups, who fight for control of PEMEX pipelines’ clandestine taps.
Arredondo said the government is working to stop the wave of violence that prevails in the state.
He concluded: “We are working against the wave of violence that is hitting the state of Guanajuato. We are aware that this is not a minor issue; I can assure you that each area is doing its work in order to prevent and stop this situation”.
Image: excelsior.com.mx
Mexico – U.S. Border
According to KRGV.com, violence is erupting again in areas along the U.S.-Mexico border. A Mexican soldier died in a shootout. He was killed by a criminal organization.
A handful of other incidents happened over the last week (July 24-31).
A military convoy was ambushed in Nuevo Laredo, a border city one hundred miles north of Monterrey, Mexico, and three hours west of the Rio Grande Valley. One Mexican soldier died and six others were injured.
Sources:
- http://www.excelsior.com.mx/
- http://www.sinembargo.mx/
- http://www.krgv.com/
- http://mexiconewsdaily.com/
- http://www.milenio.com/
