Mexico City.- Twenty alleged criminals, including at least four of Guatemalan origin, were executed in a single incident in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas, the federal Security Secretariat confirmed.
According to initial investigations, the victims are believed to be members of the so-called Chiapas Cartel, which operates on the borders between that state and Guatemala, and the perpetrators are from the Sinaloa Cartel, a rival organization.
The bodies of the people were found last Saturday, June 29, on a dirt road in a ranch, after a citizen report; 15 were in the back of a dump truck and 2 in the cabin.
Two other bodies were also found next to the vehicle, and another approximately 100 meters away. A video circulating on social media shows the bodies inside and outside the dump truck.
The Secretariat of Public Safety and Citizen Protection (SSPC) issued an information card indicating that on June 28, a video was released showing several lifeless people in the back of a dump truck, wearing tactical gear and carrying long weapons.
“The alleged perpetrators of the filming identify themselves as members of the Sinaloa Cartel and point to the victims as members of a criminal organization that allegedly operates between Chiapas and Guatemala,” it said.
On June 29, authorities received a call to the 911 emergency number reporting the presence of deceased persons on a dirt road that connects Jaltenango de la Paz with the La Reforma ranch in La Concordia.
Authorities from all three levels of government went to the site to verify the report and located, 7.4 kilometers from Jaltenango, a double-cab Nissan pickup truck and a white dump truck, across the road.
“In the back of the dump truck, 15 men were found murdered by firearm, two more in the cabin, two on the side and one more, approximately 100 meters from the vehicle, which had large-caliber bullet impacts,” the report details.
The Attorney General’s Office of Chiapas opened the investigation file number CI0017-020-2908-2024 and carried out the individual removal of the bodies, as well as the safeguarding of the evidence found at the scene in order to try to identify those responsible.
“At least four of the deceased were found to be carrying identification issued by the Guatemalan government,” the SSPC added.
“The first investigations indicate a confrontation between the criminal groups of the Sinaloa Cartel and the aforementioned Chiapas and Guatemala Cartel, who are fighting for criminal control in that border area.”
Security is reinforced
Following this massacre, the federal government ordered the reinforcement of security in the area, which is experiencing criminal harassment, cartel violence and the forced displacement of residents.
The SSPC indicated that 1,200 more federal forces will be deployed.
“In recent days, the federal government reinforced the presence of the National Guard and the National Defense Secretariat, and over the weekend, an increase of 1,200 more troops was ordered to support security work in the state,” he said.
“In that region, there have been arrests by the Armed Forces for committing crimes related to drug trafficking, human trafficking, and arms trafficking.”
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