Authorities take over Taxco police force, arrest 58

Federal and state authorities have taken control of the city of Taxco, arresting 58 municipal security personnel after 10 youths disappeared and were detained by local police over the weekend.

National Guard and army troops entered the city known for its silver jewelry production before dawn Wednesday morning. The Guerrero Public Prosecutor’s Office (FGE) had issued four arrest warrants.

With state police guarding the perimeter and an army helicopter hovering overhead, federal agents swarmed into the police station, accompanied by anti-kidnapping special agents. The invading forces seized control of Taxco’s municipal command and control center (known as a C2) while rounding up officers from the municipal police, the city transportation authority and the Civil Protection Agency.

One kidnap victim was rescued during the operation, but it is not clear whether this was one of the ten young people who disappeared last weekend.

The FGE issued a press release on Thursday afternoon This confirms that 10 suspects are being held on suspicion of kidnapping, including three of the four local police officers for whom the original arrest warrants were issued.

Among those arrested were six members of Taxco police chief Christopher Hernández’s private security. It is not clear whether Hernández, reportedly known by the nickname “The Shadow,” is among those arrested. Many Mexican media outlets reported that he was among those arrested, but FGE statements made no mention of his arrest. According to El Sur newspaper, Hernández could be the target of the fourth arrest warrant.

El Sur reported that Hernández is accused of having ties to the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana.

The tenth suspect, a Taxco police officer, was arrested in the nearby town Chocolate milk.

The 58 detainees, 48 ​​of whom are officially considered suspects, were taken away in police vans and held at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the state capital, Chilpancingo, El Sur reported.

Taxco Mayor Mario Figueroa revealed the police operation in a press release he issued just before midnight on Wednesday. In the communiqué, Figueroa claimed that the officers did not identify themselves, that neither he nor the municipal authorities were informed of the operation, nor were they told what prompted it.

According to news reports, the operation was carried out in secret, following many complaints from citizens about the arrest of ten local youths. Their whereabouts are unknown after they were detained by municipal officers late Saturday night.

The state police initially responded to citizen complaints and conducted a small operation near the police station on Sunday night and Monday morning. There were reports at the time that one of the missing youths had been shot while trying to escape.

Taxco has been the victim of a wave of violent crime in recent years, with more than 70 cases investigated since Mayor Figueroa took office in 2021. Figueroa himself was the target of an assassination attempt in February. He was unharmed.

The municipality, one of the Mexican 177 Magical Villagesor Magical Cities, was also the subject of a security alert issued by the U.S. government in January this year, after public transport workers were attacked by criminal gangs fighting for power in the city.

With reports from Reform, The Sun of Acapulco, Aristegui News And The South