A “heavily armed group attacked” the security forces, who returned fire, making “legal use of force”, the prosecutor explained via Twitter. Three members of the security forces were slightly injured.
Ten suspected criminals were killed yesterday, Tuesday, in Mexico, during an exchange of fire with security forces in a community near the capital. The relevant announcement was made by the prosecutor’s office.
A “heavily armed group attacked” the security forces, who returned fire, making “legal use of force”, the prosecutor explained via Twitter. Three members of the security forces were slightly injured.
Seven other suspected criminals were arrested, including four who were wounded by police bullets in the incident, in the community of Tescaltitlan.
The prosecution also said that 20 AR-15 assault rifles, cartridges, five vehicles, bulletproof vests, military uniforms and telecommunications equipment were confiscated.
Authorities did not specify whether the alleged perpetrators belonged to one or more of the drug cartels that control parts of the country.
“We are grateful and proud of our colleagues’ relentless action against criminal organizations in the state of Mexico,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, is the most populous of the 32 entities of the Mexican federation, with 17 million inhabitants.
In addition to drug trafficking, “organized crime” gangs engage in fuel theft, human trafficking – trafficking in immigrants dreaming of relocating to the United States -, kidnappings and extortion.
Human rights experts and advocates point out that the militarization of the long-running fight against cartels has exacerbated the violence.
Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and tens of thousands of disappearances since then-right-wing President Felipe Calderon launched a so-called “war on drugs” in December 2006 with the deployment of armed forces inside the country.
Incumbent center-left President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is urging security forces to focus on intelligence-gathering operations rather than military-style anti-gang operations. However, his policy against the cartels, which he sums up with the phrase “hugs, not bullets”, did nothing but reduce the wave of violence. The homicide rate on an annual basis is going to break a new record this year.
