EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexican authorities say they have “restored order” in parts of the state of Chihuahua where organized criminal gangs engaged in violent confrontations in the past few days.
Mexican media reported clashes between La Linea and cells of the Sinaloa cartel near Madera, Guachochi and Coyame in the past few days. The latter community is a few miles southwest of Presidio, Texas.
“We saw movement among criminal groups – the two gangs known as cartels – that engaged in confrontations,” Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya said on Monday. “It is important to note the quick response by authorities to go to these communities and restore order.”
The two cartels have stepped up hostilities in the drug and migrant smuggling corridor of Ojinaga-Coyame-Presidio since last summer. The violence included the abduction and murder of five share-ride drivers in June and the rescue of a rare liger from an abandoned home riddled with bullets whose occupants were presumably abducted and killed.
Public events including the swearing in of a new mayor and two religious festivals were suspended in recent months due to fears of violence.
In the northwest part of the state, a criminal group based in Nuevo Casas Grandes has made incursions into Madera, and the gang members operating in that area of western Chihuahua have responded in kind, Loya said.
A cooler with undisclosed contents was left last week near the police station in the Largo Maderal community, presumably to intimidate local law enforcement.
In the southern tip of the state, the two groups have been fighting for control of highways coming from Sinaloa, cutting through Chihuahua and heading into northeast Mexico and its border with South Texas.
“In Guachochi, we immediately responded and made arrests and the criminal activity diminished. The same thing happened in (Madera),” Loya said. “In Ojinaga, we have a permanent presence and we’ve had no incidents. Where we have seen movement and (vehicle) convoys, where we have had some pursuit and confrontations with criminals is in Coyame, in the trails and in some ranches.”
The state police chief said seven guns were seized from criminals and abandoned vehicles in the area last week, including five semi-automatic rifles and one .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle. Arrests were made for illegal possession of guns and impersonating police officers.
“These activities from criminal groups have been going on for a long time,” Loya said. “We know there could be further acts of violence, but the promise to the population is that there will always be an authority ready to react to it quickly.”