Cartel Mass Killings, Kidnappings Plague Central Mexico

Despite rhetoric by Mexico’s government about the country being safer than the U.S., once peaceful regions are now plagued by cartel violence. In recent days, the state of Guanajuato has suffered mass killings and mass kidnappings at the hands of cartels.

On Tuesday, authorities confirmed the disappearance of six women in Celaya who were traveling in the same vehicle. The six had been missing since March 7. Two days later, two other women were reported missing in a separate case. Despite multiple assurances from officials, the eight women remain missing. Also over the weekend, gunmen kidnapped a 36-year-old male businessman whose body was found two days later. State authorities claimed to have arrested a cell of gunmen in connection with the case, however, no new information has been released.

In a separate case, cartel gunmen stormed a bar called El Estadio in Apaseo El Alto, killing 10 patrons. The attack took place over the weekend. According to the Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office, initially, the gunmen shot 6 men and two women who died at the scene. Two others died at a local hospital. Mass shootings at bars in Guanajuato are on the rise as Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and the remnants of Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) fight for control of local drug markets and business vulnerable to extortion.

As Breitbart Texas reported, gunmen from CSRL threatened to kill innocent victims late last year if businesses continued to pay protection or serve the interests of CJNG.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “E.F. Robles” from Jalisco.