At least three soldiers from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) were murdered this Thursday in an ambush in the municipality of Tepalcatepec, in the State of Michoacán, as confirmed by the Mexican Army to EL PAÍS. Sedena has also reported “about six or seven” injured people with “various injuries” who have already been transferred to hospitals in the area. “There are some who are still being examined and some who have unfavorable diagnoses,” said a military spokesperson, so the number of fatalities may still rise.
The soldiers were ambushed while carrying out reconnaissance work between the towns of El Montoso and El Terrenatillo, a mountainous and rural area. According to the local press, in information not confirmed by Sedena, the military convoy passed over a mined road. After the ground explosives exploded, taking advantage of the confusion, a group of armed men opened fire on them and bombed them using drones loaded with homemade explosives.
The soldiers were stationed in the 43rd Military Zone, a Mexican Army base under the responsibility of Brigadier General Óscar Rentería Schazarino, according to Sedena itself. The military barracks is located in the municipality of Apatzingán, less than 70 kilometers from Tepalcatepec, the scene of the ambush. In the area, there is allegedly a dispute between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel and a local group called El Abuelo, allied with the Knights Templar.
The reconnaissance mission, according to Sedena, is a usual protocol of the Army in the region, which responds to the logic of “being present to prevent criminal activities, they (the military) routinely have a presence in the area.” €. The convoy consisted of between 20 and 30 soldiers.
On December 26, 2023, two months ago, a shootout broke out between members of the CJNG and members of Carteles Unidos, another criminal group with a presence in the region, in the same municipality of Tepalcatepec. A detachment of soldiers from the 43rd Military Zone intervened to “reestablish order.” No fatalities were reported in that altercation.
In September of last year, another CJNG commando killed three workers in the lemon fields of Tepalcatepec, a municipality of about 24,000 inhabitants, many of them farmers. The three farmers were kidnapped, tied up and then shot dead. Their bodies were abandoned. A month earlier, in August, hitmen from the same criminal group attacked the town, but were repelled by the inhabitants themselves.
This Thursday is not the first attack with drones and anti-personnel mines that has occurred in the municipality. In January 2022, a Sedena armored truck also exploded when ground explosives rolled over it, while patrolling the area. That same month, a video released by the CJNG, taken from a drone, went viral, showing how the unmanned aerial vehicle dropped homemade bombs on Tepalcatepec.
According to an analysis of the portal specialized in violence and organized crime Insight Crime, was the first drone attack recorded in Mexico. “At the moment drones function only as a terror tactic, due to their lack of lethality. However, if the arms race between criminal groups continues, it may be just a matter of time before civilian deaths occur,” the article argued. If it is confirmed that the three murdered soldiers died under drone fire, it would point to an evolution in the “arms race,†as mentioned. Insight Crime.
Experts consulted by EL PAÍS then pointed out that, for the moment, the use of drones by organized crime responded to surveillance tasks, transporting small quantities of drugs and, on specific occasions, attacks. The drones used by groups like the CJNG are not designed for combat. On the contrary, they are commercial models that anyone with enough money can buy on the Internet (a quick look at the website shows that there are copies for a few hundred dollars). Afterwards, it is not difficult to add a hook that is controlled remotely from the mobile phone, to which the bomb is added and released on the target in question.
Michoacán is one of the most violent states in Mexico, disputed between criminal groups such as the CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel, United Cartels, La Familia Michoacana or the Knights Templar. In 2022, at least 2,242 people were murdered in the entity, which together with Guanajuato, the State of Mexico, Baja California and Chihuahua concentrated 45% of the total homicides registered in the country (14,307), according to the organization Mexico United Against Crime.
SuscrÃbase aquà to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in this country