In a series of coordinated attacks in Western Mexico, gunmen from Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) killed three Mexican soldiers, killed two National Guardsmen, and injured two other soldiers.
The violence broke out on Sunday afternoon in two separate locations in the rural areas between the borders of Michoacan and Jalisco. According to information released by the Michoacan government, one of the attacks took place along a highway near the town of Chilchota, where a convoy of Mexican soldiers came under fire in an apparent ambush by gunmen from CJNG. In that attack, three soldiers died, and two others sustained injuries.
Mexican soldiers shot by CJNG gunmen in Michoacan. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
At almost the same time, just west of there in the town of Guadalupe de Lerma in Jalisco, a group of CJNG gunmen ambushed a squad from Mexico’s National Guard. In that attack, two guardsmen died, authorities revealed.
Mexican National Guardsmen were killed during an attack by CJNG. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
In response, Mexican authorities deployed a large number of agents and soldiers to the areas surrounding the communities of Zamora, La Piedad and Jiquilpan in the rural areas near the border between Michoacan and Jalisco.
Cartel gunmen set up numerous roadblocks where they carjacked tractor-trailers and parked them sideways along highways before setting them on fire as a way to keep authorities away.
Blockade set up by CJNG in Michoacan. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles)
The firefights and the extensive deployment of troops forced many local community governments to issue local alerts warning the public to shelter in place.
A motive for the coordinated attack remains unknown. However, that region has been a hotspot of violence as CJNG has been waging a fierce turf war with rival criminal organizations for control of drug trafficking routes into Mexico, as well as drug production areas.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Jose Luis Lara and L.P. Contreras from Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles contributed to this report.
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