Death in Durango: 7 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

An unidentified Mexican Army lieutenant colonel was found shot to death in sierras of Santiago Papasquiaro Wednesday morning, according to a news item on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily Thursday evening.

The victim was tentatively identified as Lt. Colonel Felipe Villalobos, said to be a member of Mexico's elite Grupo Aeromovil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE) special forces group.  Reports say the local municipality government have already declared their incompetence in the case kicking it over to military jurisdiction.  The declaration is pro forma since no civilians are presumably involved in the shooting. 

The report also said that another unidentified soldier was being investigated for his role in the death of the colonel.

According to a post on the website of El Contexto de Durango news daily, six individuals including two women, said to be affiliated with Los Zetas criminal group, were detained at a traffic stop in Santiago Papasquiaro Thursday in the Las Quebradas region. 

Durango state police agents from at least two separate agencies stopped six individuals travelling aboard a Chevrolet Malibu sedan on Bulevar Armando del Castillo Franco in CNOP colony.  The driver of the vehicle attempted to initiate a pursuit, but was stopped

The stop netted one AK-47 rifle, one .38 caliber Super pistol, 37 packages of powder cocaine divided and wrapped for retail sale, 16.5 kilograms of marijuana, about one kilogram of unprocessed marijuana, 38 small packages of marijuana divided and wrapped for retail sale weighing a total of 2.1 kilograms, 14 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammunition for the AK-47 rifle and the sedan.

The detainees were identified as Hector Fidel Corral AKA El Tetín, 23, Jesus Gutierrez Gomez AKA El Pelon, Maria Laura Dominguez Quiñonez 21, Norma Elizabeth Lopez Palafox, 30, José Alejandro Amaya Amado, 29 and José Sergio Hernandez Monarrez AKA El Capter, 18.

Six other individuals were found dead in Durango state, according to data supplied by Durango press reports.

• An unidentified man in his 30s was found beaten to death in Durango municipality Wednesday morning by Durango state police agents.  The victim was found on the road between Hacienda La Martinica and the village of Pilar de Zaragoza.
• The Durango Fiscalia General de Estado, or attorney general, said that a man found shot to death in his residence April 30th has been identified as Alfredo Rincon Quiñones, 65.  The victim was found in the village of Ignacio Zaragoza in Coneto de Comonfort municipality.  The victim was shot as many as four times with an AR-15 rifle.
• The Durango Fiscalia General de Estado said that two men who disappeared April 29th and were later found dead near Guadalupe Victoria dam April 30th have been identified.  Mateo Mancinas Gonzalez, 24, and Jorge Luis Mancinas Guerrero, 22, were both from Buenavista colony, in the village of El Salto, in Pueblo Nuevo municipality.
• A man was found shot to death in Santiago Papasquiaro near the village of El Atascadero Wednesday.  The victim was identified as Pedro Contreras Segovia, 55, a resident of Santiago Papasquiaro city.  The victim had been shot once in the chest.
• A man was found beaten to death in Santiago Papsquiaro municipality Wednesday.  Ramon Jimenez de la Cruz, 44, had been missing since last Saturday.  He was found near the village of Santa Teresa on Francisco Zarco road.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Categories: arrests, durango