EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexican authorities have arrested 17 suspected drug cartel members and seized 14 rifles, including three with grenade-launching adapters, and three grenades.
The arrests this week in the western state of Michoacan come in the wake of two April 25 shootouts between civilians and the Mexican army that left six alleged cartel members dead near the city of Apatzingan.
A second shootout was reported in the early hours of Thursday, leaving six police officers injured. Mexico’s TV Azteca aired a video of the aftermath of that encounter..
Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla said the detainees are members of a “criminal cell” operating 30 miles east of the state capital of Morelia. He told local news media the men are suspects in the recent murder of a ride-share driver — whose call for help was widely shared online and led to protests — and were detained on weapons and organized crime charges.
Local news reports cited anonymous government sources as saying the detainees allegedly are members of a Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cell headed by a gang leader known as “El Primo” (The Cousin).
Michoacan in the past few years has been a battleground between the expanding Jalisco cartel and local groups like La Nueva Familia Michoacana. The U.S. government has designated both cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
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