Soldiers arrive in Salamanca after cartel violence leaves sixteen dead

Twelve bodies were found Thursday in Salamanca, Guanajuato, two days after four men were killed in an armed attack in the same city.

The bodies of eight men and four women were found Thursday morning at five different points in Salamanca, a municipality near the geographic center of Mexico’s most violent state.

#Sucesos | AM audió is miércoles al sitio donde asesinaron a cuatro hombres e rent a cinco más, a anexo ubicado in la colonia El Rosario, de Salamanca.https://t.co/YAXzVUAi07

Photos: AM staff pic.twitter.com/o1ZpGEaLJS

— Periodico AM Noticias (@periodicoam) October 2, 2024

Four young men were killed and five others injured in an attack on a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in El Rosario’s Salamanca neighborhood on Tuesday evening.

All twelve victims had been shot and some bodies showed signs of torture and their hands and feet were tied together.

State authorities attributed the violence in Salamanca to a turf war between two criminal organizations, namely the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Narco banners allegedly signed by the former cartel were found next to some of the twelve bodies.

As of Friday afternoon, no arrests had been reported in connection with the 12 murders.

The gruesome discoveries on Thursday came after four young men were killed and five others injured in an attack on a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Salamanca’s El Rosario neighborhood on Tuesday evening.

Dozens of soldiers arrived in Salamanca on Thursday afternoon and the state police presence was reinforced, El Universal newspaper reported.

Secretary of State Jorge Jiménez Lona said Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo, who was elected in June on a National Action Party (PAN) ticket and took office last week, issued instructions to strengthen security in Salamanca, which borders the capital of the state of Guanajuato and According to the crime data website elcri.men, it is currently the 49th most dangerous municipality in Mexico.

Jiménez said state and federal authorities “know the places where (the rival cartels) operate.”

“We must confront them, we must use intelligence, deliver results and above all not let these events happen,” he said.

“… There is good will, but good will is not enough. We must see the presence and coordination of federal forces,” Jiménez said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she will present a new national security plan next week.

The ongoing battle between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the CJNG is considered the main cause of the high level of violence in Guanajuato. The state has been Mexico’s most violent in recent years when it comes to total homicides.

The news website Infobae reported that 26 murders occurred in Guanajuato between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon.

The newspaper El Financiero reported on Tuesday that 20 murders had been committed in Guanajuato in the first five full days of Libia García’s governorship. Four of the victims were killed in an attack at a bar in Irapuato, while four others were shot dead in a house in León, the state’s largest city.

García said in a social media post on Monday that “the peace of your family is the most important thing and we will restore it.”

During his presidency, López Obrador was critical of the Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office’s efforts to combat crime.

“What worries me about Guanajuato is the insecurity, because there is a lot of it and the (district) government, especially the Public Prosecution Service, is not taking action,” he said in 2021.

“…We are doing everything we can, but we have no support. The Attorney General (Carlos Zamarripa) has been there for a long time and there are no results,” López Obrador said.

García announced this week that Zamarripa will step down as attorney general at the end of this year after fifteen years in the position.

With reports from El Universal, Reforma, AM, El Financiero and Infobae