Ten Colombian retirees are among the detainees in Western Mexico, a region of a powerful drug cartel, the army and the local government announced yesterday, a few days after an explosion of a personnel of a personnel, killing six.

Overall “17 people were arrested, including 12 foreigners, including 10 former military men”the army said. The government of the state Michoacan He clarified for her part that the retired people have “Colombian nationality”.

A mine explosion on Tuesday as it passed through the point where a Mexican National Guard’s armored vehicle was installed, it claimed life to six soldiers, an internal document of the Armed Forces consulted by the French Agency a day later.

Six aircraft and four helicopters were sent to the area where the attack took place to be provided “support” To their members who were attempting on the field, according to the document.

The arrest of 17 suspects took place in the area Los Regeson the border of states Michoacan and Chaliskowhere one of the most powerful gangs in Mexico, the Cartel New Generation of Halisko (KNG).

This is one of the eight Latin American gangs – six Mexican – officially characterized ‘Terrorist organizations’ from the US in February.

In addition to the 17 arrests, the army announced that 41 explosive mechanisms were seized, as well as rifles.

The President of Mexico Sheenbaum expressed solidarity with victims and their relatives and condemned the use on Wednesday ‘Explosive mechanisms’ against security forces, avoiding responsibility for a gang name.

The Mexican Armed Forces have suffered several more losses in similar actions in the past.

In October 2023, the authorities at Michoacan announced that it was dismantled ‘Colombian core’ specialized ‘In the construction of explosives’ and in their placement “In drones”.

The presence of Colombians, especially retired, both in Mexican cartels and in very distant war zones, such as Ukraine, or Yemen, has been magnified in recent years, according to authorities and experts.

Disarmament and dismantling of former FARC guerrilla organization and reducing the defense budget in Bog They partially explain the search for opportunities by Colombian mercenaries, explains to the French Agency the security consultant David Sausedo.

In 2023, a group of Colombian paid assassins killed the Ecuador to the Presidency Candidate Fernando Villabissenio. In 2021, Colombian mercenaries murdered the president of Haiti, Zovenell Moz.