At least 19 people have been killed in Mexico, including four Guatemalans, in yet another clash between two drug cartels in the southern state of Chiapas.
Inside a truck carrying goods, “14 men were found murdered with firearms, two others in the cabin, two on the road and another at a distance of about 100 meters,” the Ministry of Security said in a statement. It was previously announced that the dead were 20.
The incident took place last Friday in the city of La Concordia, just a few hours from the border with Guatemala.
According to the ministry, initial investigations show that this is a “conflict” between the Sinaloa cartel, one of the strongest in the country, and a rival faction called the “Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel”.
Authorities stress that the two criminal organizations “claim control of this border area” and, according to the announcement, “it was found that at least four of the people killed were carrying identification cards issued by the Guatemalan government.”
They were discovered in a truck
After being alerted on Saturday to the presence of bodies on a rural road, security forces discovered the dead inside a goods truck, they said.
Arrests were made of people linked to “drug smuggling, human trafficking and arms smuggling” in the area where the events took place, according to the same source.
Last weekend, the federal government ordered the deployment of 1,200 soldiers to reinforce security along the border with Guatemala.
Source: RES-MPE