Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker A confrontation on Friday between residents of a municipality in southwestern México state and alleged members of a criminal group left 14 people dead and seven injured The extortion-related clash between farmers and suspected members of the La Familia Michoacana criminal organization occurred on a soccer field in Texcapilla a municipality around 130 kilometers southwest of Mexico City gunshots can be heard ringing out as farmers and other locals attack suspected criminals with weapons such as sickles and machetes The confrontation reportedly occurred after members of La Familia Michoacana – a notoriously violent cartel – attempted to raise the payments they were demanding from farmers and business owners in exchange for allowing them to operate unimpeded México state officials told a press conference on Saturday that 10 of the dead were presumed members of the criminal gang The bodies of the alleged criminals were apparently set on fire Five locals and two suspected gangsters were injured during the clash The state Security Ministry said in a statement on Friday that two people involved in the conflict were missing Attorney General José Luis Cervantes said that three “priority objectives” of law enforcement authorities were among the deceased One of those killed was Rigoberto de la Sancha Santillán, a La Familia Michoacana leader known as “El Payaso” (The Clown). De la Sancha allegedly participated in a 2021 ambush that killed 13 police officers in Coatepec Harinas a México state municipality that borders Texcaltitlán He was the target of a 2022 police operation during which at least 10 presumed La Michoacan members were killed in Texcaltitlán México state Governor Delfina Gómez said that she “deeply” regretted the violence on Friday they reaffirm our commitment to improve the security conditions in our beloved state Rest assured that we will continue working so that episodes like this aren’t repeated To the [residents of the] south of México state I say Sandra Ley, a program coordinator for the think tank México Evalúa, told The New York Times that communities sometimes fight back against criminal organizations that are constantly harassing them out of “desperation.” “The communities do this from a place of feeling fed up from that position of ‘no more,'” she said Victims of extortion often say that authorities have done little to combat the problem Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group told The Times that extortion has become increasingly common here as crime groups “have been morphing away from drug trafficking towards a territorially based extraction model.” President López Obrador described the clash on Friday as “very regrettable” and noted that an investigation is underway He also said that federal security forces have been deployed to Texcaltitlán explaining that around 600 soldiers and National Guard Officers were sent to the municipality ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 6th 2025 - 12:46 UTC Bullet casings still littered the ground on Friday in Coatepec Harinas a troubled municipality southwest of Mexico City where 13 police officers on patrol were brutally murdered in an ambush by suspected drug gang members Forensic teams and dozens of heavily armed police and military officials gathered at the cordoned off crime scene dotted with checkpoints after one of the worst mass slayings of Mexican law enforcement officials in years Though authorities say crime is widespread residents were badly shaken by Thursday's violence Some houses were strafed with bullets in the small town nestled between verdant hills and corn fields where most people make a living cultivating crops The attackers rounded up bodies of the fallen police officers into a pile and continued to spray them with bullets according to a local officer at the scene on Friday “They finished them off,” said the officer The police convoy came under fire in broad daylight as it patrolled about 64 km south of the city of Toluca in a zone where gangs including the Familia Michoacana drug cartel are known to operate The area is in a region of the State of Mexico often hit by gangs from Guerrero and Michoacan adjoining states that have long been among the most lawless in the country The killings are another reminder of the task still facing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who vowed to pacify Mexico when he took office in December 2018 but has instead had to cope with even higher homicide levels than his predecessor he said the perpetrators would face justice Federal authorities are investigating but have yet to give a motive for the killings Another police officer at the scene said it may have been an act of “retaliation,” without giving more details Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page Gunmen killed 13 police officers in an ambush in México state on Thursday in what was apparently a revenge attack for a security operation against the Familia Michoacana drug cartel two days earlier Eight state police and five investigative officers attached to the México state Attorney General’s Office were killed in the attack Thursday afternoon in Coatepec Harinas a municipality about 120 kilometers southwest of Mexico City members of the Familia Michoacana perpetrated the attack in retaliation for a joint state-federal security operation on Tuesday in Zacualpan a México state municipality 40 kilometers south of Coatepec Harinas Intelligence sources told the newspaper that 125 police 20 soldiers and 28 marines carried out an operation in the community of Gama de Paz and seized three vehicles allegedly stolen by cartel members the security forces found a notebook containing information about the location of cartel bases as well where halcones The security personnel saw alleged Familia Michoacana cartel members in Gama de Paz but the latter fled and there were no arrests or loss of life México state Security Minister Rodrigo Martínez-Celis Wogau called Thursday’s ambush an “affront to the Mexican state” and pledged to respond with “total force and the support of the law.” the army and the navy were deployed to Coatepec Harinas following the ambush The attack was the deadliest on police since 14 state officers were killed in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán in October 2019 Ninety-nine police officers have now been killed in Mexico this year a government watchdog with a particular interest in public security making last year the deadliest year for police since the organization began tracking murders of police in 2018 Source: Milenio (sp)