Chihuahua, Chih.- A confrontation between the National Guard and alleged members of the criminal group ‘Gente Nueva’ left one dead and five injured, after the men were caught guarding a supposed point used for illegal drilling of Pemex underground pipelines, which led to a chase during which they also invaded a private walnut plantation.
The security corporation did not issue an official report on the reason for its intervention in the property, but unofficial sources from the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) revealed that the GN was responding to recent complaints of ‘huachicoleo’ in the rural area north of the capital, a crime to which more than 30 homicides between criminal groups have been linked this year.
According to state authorities’ investigations, the El Sauz region is disputed by both internal groups of the Sinaloa Cartel (Gente Nueva) and by the organization known as ‘La Empresa’, mainly for the crime of hydrocarbon theft, as well as human trafficking.
Yesterday around seven in the morning, the GN reported a confrontation and chase with the alleged criminals, whom they had surprised on a dirt road carrying out surveillance work near an alleged fuel tap, of which there were no further details as of noon.
The events occurred on roads between kilometers 44 and 45 of the Chihuahua-Juárez highway, when the alleged members of a criminal cell responded with gunfire to the instructions to stop given to them by the National Guard, who pursued them until they entered a private walnut orchard called El Rosarito, where the six were subdued, and one of them was shot.
According to unofficial reports, the wounded surrendered to the GN personnel and the confrontation lasted a few minutes, from the escape attempt to the arrest.
The group of elements requested support from other corporations with which it works in coordination, so before eight in the morning agents of the Municipal Police of the rural area of the north of the capital, as well as state police and military personnel, were mobilized.
Likewise, the presence of ambulances was requested to assist the wounded and transfer them to a hospital, where they were arrested and placed at the disposal of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, although until yesterday the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) had not officially announced the possible charges that would be brought against them; it also transpired that nine firearms with which the alleged criminals attacked were seized at the scene of the confrontation.
Meanwhile, the unidentified body was removed by the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) of the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), which for its part opened an investigation into the events for homicide.
Unofficially, FGE personnel in charge of the investigations detailed that the incident could be related to the dispute between La Empresa and the Gente Nueva or Sinaloa Cartel; or between factions of the latter criminal organization.
Although no illegal hydrocarbon extraction had been detected until yesterday, it is, among others, the crime known as ‘huachicoleo’ that criminal groups seek to control.
More than 10% of executions linked to ‘huachicoleo’
Executions linked to ‘huachicoleo’ represent just over 10 percent of those committed between January and last July, mainly in the rural area north of Chihuahua.
According to a report by the State Public Security Secretariat (SSPE) and crime data from the State Attorney General’s Office, there are more than 30 cases of murder this year that are allegedly related to fuel theft, out of just over 270 intentional homicides accumulated up to the seventh month of the year in the capital.
At the beginning of July, the Secretary of Security, Gilberto Loya, reported 27 incidents of intentional homicide since January, allegedly linked to the activity known as ‘huachicoleo’, which had been concentrated in towns near or adjacent to El Sauz, north of the state capital.
In recent weeks, according to various reports from state authorities, three other cases have been investigated for their relation to the same crime, due to the struggle between the cartels for control of this illegal business.
Previous violent deaths had occurred in clashes or executions attributed to organized crime, but yesterday’s death was the result of the intervention of the National Guard, which was responsible for killing one of the alleged criminals and arresting the other five.
This increase in violence related to crime is also reflected in the upward trend in the theft of hydrocarbons from the national company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which continued in the first half of this year, above previous years.
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