Ten Dead as Drug Cartel Clashes With Police in Central Mexico, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ten people, including a policeman, were killed in clashes between law enforcement officers and members of the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartel in Mexico, the media reported on Tuesday, citing a local public security office.

According to the Financiero newspaper, the clashes took place in the Villagran municipality in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. A group of unidentified gunmen in several vehicles reportedly opened fire on members of the public security forces near the Santa Rosa de Lima community, where the criminal cartel is based. The law enforcement officers began to repel the attack, and one of them was wounded and taken to hospital, but later died.

A member of the National Guard was reportedly injured in the ongoing clashes. Three suspects were detained, and explosive devices, weapons, drugs and cars were seized.

Mexican police in the Nevado de Toluca national park

© Más Noticias Oaxaca

According to the security department, in total eight attackers were killed in the clashes, and the body of a man with gunshot wounds was found in one of the cars.

The CJNG was created as an armed wing of the Sinaloa cartel (Pacific cartel) to fight for the drug trafficking market and is characterized by extreme violence. In March 2020, the leader of the organization, Nemesio Osegera-Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, topped the US Drug Enforcement Administration's list of the most wanted criminals. The US offers $10 million for his capture.