A group of Mexican cartel gunmen killed 13 police officers and injured two others in a series of attacks in the popular coastal state of Guerrero. The crime scene is not far from the tourist hotspots of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.

A statement from the Guerrero Attorney General’s Office revealed that the mass killings took place on Monday in the municipality of Coyuca. The victims included the city’s Public Security Secretary Alfredo Alonso Benitez and 12 of his officers and top aides.

The attack occurred shortly after noon when the group of police officers was patrolling the region near the town of El Papayo when the officers became the target of an ambush. The gunmen killed some of the officers and took several others captive, only to execute them shortly after.

By the time additional police forces arrived at the scene, the gunmen had already left, leaving behind the bodies of their victims.

The violence in Guerrero comes at a time when several criminal organizations continue to fight for control of the region’s lucrative drug trafficking routes into Mexico and drug production areas in the rural communities.

As Breitbart Texas reported, historically, factions tied to the Familia Michoacana have had influence in Guerrero. They have been fighting with several groups tied to other cartels such as Cartel Jalisco New Generation, Sinaloa Cartel, and other organizations.

The mass killing of police officers comes as Guerrero’s Governor Evelyn Salgado, from the MORENA party, continuously claims that the region has seen a decrease in crime and that the state is safe. In her most recent social media posts, Salgado has not commented about the mass killing of her police officers. She has, however, boasted about how her state is prepared for a tropical storm.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Jose Luis Lara “J.C. Sanchez”  and “L.P. Contreras” from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report.