In a series of coordinated attacks in western Mexico, gunmen from the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) killed three Mexican soldiers, killing two national guards and wounding two other soldiers.
The violence occurred on Sunday afternoon at two separate locations in a rural area between the Michoacan and Jalisco border. According to information released by the Michoacan government, one of the attacks took place along a highway near the town of Chilchata. There, a convoy of Mexican soldiers fired in an apparent ambush by CJNG gunmen. The attack killed three soldiers and injured two others.
A Mexican soldier shot by a CJNG gunman from Michoacan. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
Almost at the same time, a group of CJNG gunmen, just west of the town of Guadalupe dererma in Jalisco, ambushed a team of Mexican National Guard. Two security guards were killed in the attack, authorities said.
The Mexican national security guard was killed during an attack by the CJNG. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
In response, Mexican authorities deployed numerous agents and soldiers in rural areas near the Michoacan and Jalisco border, and in areas surrounding the communities of Zamora, Lapiedaddo and Jekyllupin.
Cartel militants carjacked tractor trailers and installed numerous obstacles parked sideways along the highway before setting the fire as a way to alienate the authorities.
Blockade set by Michoakan CJNG. (Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles)
The gunfights and widespread deployment of the military forced many community governments to issue local warnings.
The motives for the coordinated attack remain unknown. However, the area was a hot spot for violence as CJNG engaged in a fierce turf war with rival criminal organizations to manage drug trafficking routes and drug production areas to Mexico.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist for the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded with Cartel Chronicles Project, Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart Management of the Breitbart News Foundation. You can follow him Twitter And on Facebook. You can contact him iortiz@breitbart.com.
Jose Luis Lara and LP Contreras of Cartel Chronicles of the Breitbart News Foundation contributed to this report.
