MEXICO CITY.- Nine bodies were found this Tuesday on an avenue in the Mexican city of Fresnilloin the state of Zacatecasin the midst of an escalation of violence that was unleashed after the capture of alleged criminals, authorities reported.
Along with the bodies, they left “messages addressed to an antagonistic group,” reported the secretary of the government of the state of Zacatecas, Rodrigo Reyes, on his social networks.
Fresnillo, with about 240,000 inhabitants, is located in a drug trafficking route that the most powerful cartels in Mexico are fighting for, that of Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generationaccording to authorities.
The nine bodies were dumped near a market two days after criminal groups blocked roads and burned cargo vehicles in response to the capture of 13 alleged criminals in Fresnillo.
Another 13 were detained on Monday in the continuation of operations deployed by law enforcement forces in that and other towns in Zacatecas, causing two new road closures this Tuesday morning, the government secretary detailed.
“The situation is under control,” said Reyes, who nevertheless asked to “circulate with caution” because operations continue.
According to a government survey, 96% of the population of Fresnillo fears being a victim of crime, making it the municipality with the highest perception of insecurity of Mexico.
The country has accumulated some 450,000 homicides and more than 100,000 disappearances since the State launched an anti-drug offensive with military participation in 2006.
Insecurity is one of the axes of the campaign for presidential election on June 2, whose voting intention is led by the ruling party Claudia Sheinbaumabove the opponent Xochitl Galvez and of Jorge Álvarez Máynezaccording to surveys.
Sheinbaum offers to continue the approach of president Andrés Manuel López Obradorwhich according to him prioritizes addressing the causes of violence, such as poverty and exclusion, rather than the frontal war against the cartels.
On the contrary, Gálvez promises to capture the big bosses and thus put an end to the strategy of “hugs, not bullets,” as López Obrador baptized his security policy.
Source: With information from AFP
