Clash between Mexican police and ‘Familia Michoacana’ drug cartel left 13 officers dead

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexican authorities have confirmed the murder of 13 officers after they were ambushed by alleged members of ‘La Familia Michoacana’ drug cartel (The Michoacán Family), who intercepted a convoy of state police and investigators assigned to the state prosecutor’s office in the city of Coatepec de Harinas.

The officers were patrolling the area of Llano Grande when they were ambushed, resulting in the death of 8 state police officers and 5 members of Mexico’s prosecutor’s office.

Pictures shared on social media show a bullet-riddled police car and an unmarked white truck, along with officers’ bodies scattered out along the street.

Experts from the state prosecutor’s office are now conducting the appropriate investigations. Reinforcements from the National Guard, the Mexican Navy and the Army have been deployed to the scene to guard the area and search for the perpetrators. The operations are being conducted by land and air, supported by the National Intelligence Center.

An audio circulating on Twitter reveals the officers’ desperate call for help during the attack: “Call for support, from Carmen, they are shooting at us (…) please, they are shooting at us in Llano Grande!” an officer can be heard shouting over the radio.

“This attack is an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law,” said Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, security minister for the State of Mexico, in a joint statement with the state prosecutor, Alejandro Gomez Sanchez.

“The families of the officers who died on Thursday will have the full support and backing of both institutions,” said Gomez Sanchez.

Other police officers from the State of Mexico were also reportedly executed in Almoloya de Alquisiras. Images circulating on social networks suggest that between 2 and 4 officers were killed in a patrol car.

Authorities are still confirming this latest information. Should this be confirmed, it would represent a total of 17 officers murdered in less than 4 hours in the state.

According to reports, alleged members of the Familia Michoacana surprised the officers while they were preparing for a patrol. They were gunned down with high-caliber weapons from a pickup truck. Seconds later, a few meters down the same road, the gunmen found the investigators and shot them.

On the drug trafficking map, the Familia Michoacana, which uses guerrilla tactics taking advantage of the rugged territory of the state of Michoacan, controls the southern part of the state under the leadership of Jhony El Mojarro and José La Fresa, the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers, leaders of the criminal group.

An alliance between this criminal organization and the Caballeros Templarios has been established in the area, through which they have managed to oust the Guerreros Unidos criminal group from a large part of the territory.

The Hurtado Olascoaga surname began gaining prominence in 2014, when Mexican authorities offered a large reward for their location.

Investigations found that the brothers were sent to the State of Mexico by one of the Familia Michoacana leaders to take control of the region bordering Guerrero, which comprises the municipalities of Bejucos, Luvianos, Tejupilco and Tlatlaya in the state of Michoacan.

The Hurtado Olascoagas and 18 hitmen sent to “clean up the area” were behind the wave of kidnappings that erupted at the start of the last decade in Valle de Bravo, arguably the most exclusive area in the state of Mexico.

According to US authorities’ records, La Familia Michoacana was officially disbanded in 2011, following the arrest of its last leader, Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, the “Chango,” but continued to operate in groups dedicated to trafficking, kidnapping and extortion in Guerrero, Mexico State and the country’s capital, particularly in peripheral suburbs until 2014, according to a US Congressional Research Service investigation. However, a new Familia Michoacana remains active in parts of Guerrero and Michoacan.

In early July 2020, the cartel’s unusual brutality and fanaticism, with Michoacán state as its stronghold, attracted the attention of authorities in the State of Mexico. This organization not only kills its rivals and profits from drug trafficking and extortion, but has also declared war on the state’s police.

According to Causa en Común organization records, the State of Mexico was the second most lethal for police officers with 39 cases in 2020. It was behind only Guanajuato, which registered 84; next are Veracruz (39), Guerrero (37) and Chihuahua (35). In the whole of last year, the organization recorded 524 police officers murdered.

Source:infobae