Mexico: At least 19 dead in a shootout between drug cartels

A fierce confrontation between hitmen from the Sinaloa, Chiapas and Guatemala cartels, who are fighting for control of the southern border of Mexico,in the state of Chiapas, left a total of 19 dead, in a new episode of drug violence in that country, the government reported.

In a statement, the Mexican government’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) confirmed that 19 lifeless bodies were found over the weekend inside a truck in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas, and noted that “initial investigations indicate a confrontation between the aforementioned criminal groups.”

The SSPC indicated that on Saturday, June 29, the discovery of several deceased people was reported on a stretch of road that connects Jaltenango de la Paz with the community of La Reforma, in the municipality of La Concordia.

The day before, on Friday, June 28, a video was circulated on social media showing several lifeless bodies in the back of a cargo truck wearing tactical gear and carrying long weapons.

The authors of the video identified themselves as alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel and said the victims were part of a rival organization that allegedly operates between Chiapas and Guatemala.

“In the back of the dump truck, 15 men were found murdered by firearm, 2 more in the cabin, 2 to one side and 1 more approximately 100 meters from the vehicle, which had large-caliber bullet impacts,” the note indicated.

After the discovery, The federal government sent 200 agents to reinforce security in that region of Chiapas.

For its part, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) of Chiapas, through the Fraylesca District Attorney’s Office, said that, in coordination with agents of the National Guard (GN), the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) and the State Preventive Police (PEP), in the last few hours they located 19 bodies in events that occurred in the municipality of La Concordia.

The District Attorney’s Office reported that after receiving a complaint, on June 30, they went to the scene of the events “where the body was found Inside the hopper of a dump truck, the lifeless bodies of five peoplewho had gunshot wounds.”

As investigations continued on Monday, July 1, 14 more lifeless bodies were located, for a total of 19 corpses, all men, who were found inside the same truck.

The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the first six bodies were identified as: Mario “N”, Geremias “N”, Fredy “N”, Baudulio “N”, Óscar “N” and Luis “N”, while 13 more men are unknown.

The FGE noted that “all the bodies found inside the dump truck were wearing dark clothing, tactical vests, and each of them was found to have firearm magazines.”

On June 11, the SSPC reported that it recorded 2,657 homicides in May, the month before the June 2 election and the most violent of the year amid political violence in Mexico.

These figures come after it was revealed that homicides in this country fell by 4.18% in 2023 to 29,675, the fourth consecutive year of decline after the most violent years in its history, 2019 and 2020, with more than 34,000 victims each year, according to the SSPC.