Bloody Zacatecas: 15 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 15 individuals have been killed in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Zacatecas state since Thursday, including eight armed suspects according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report posed on the online edition of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily said that eight armed suspects died in an exchange of gunfire with Mexican Policia Federal (PF) and Zacatecas state police forces that started around noon in Genaro Codina municipality and ended at around 1500 hrs Saturday.

According to reports, the gunfight was a series of encounters including pursuits that involved as many as 22 PF vehicles including an number of Rinoceronte or Rhino armor vehicles.

Eight armed suspects were killed and another five were detained at the scene.  A quantity of weapons were also seized but the details were not disclosed.

Genaro Codina is about 30 kilometers south of Zacatecas municipality.

Seven other individuals  were killed in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Zacatecas state.

• Two armed suspects were and a female passerby were killed in an intergang firefight Wednesday night in Sain Alto municipality.   Margarita Monserrat Vazquez Araujo, 19, from Guanajuato was travelling with a male companion on Mexico Federal Highway 45 when she was struck in the face with a stray bullet.  She later died while receiving medical attention.  Mexican security forces found three abandoned vehicles which had been shot up presumably during the gunfight.
• Three armed suspects were killed in an armed encounter with a Mexican Naval infantry road patrol near Jerez  municipality.  The military unit was on patrol near the village of Organos when marines came under small arms fire.  Marine return fire killed the three suspects.   The El Sol de Zacatecas report said that the number of armed suspects firing was undetermined, so apparently a number of them escaped.  A total of four more armed suspects surrendered.
• One unidentified armed suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire between armed suspects and a Mexican Policia Federal (PF) road patrol in Calera municipality Thursday. The army unit attempted a traffic stop of several vehicles in Lauro G. Caloca colony, but were instead fired on during a brief pursuit.  Army return fire killed one suspect. Two other suspects were detained at the scene.
• A Mexican Army unit detained four suspected kidnappers in Fresnillo municipality Wednesday.  A unit with the Mexican 11th Military Zone received a complain from an unidentified female kidnapping victim from Plan de Ayala neighborhood in Fresnillo.  An army unit dispatched to the address rescuing one other female kidnapping victim and detaining four suspects at the scene.  Soldiers also secured two Norinco brand AK-47 rifles, 10 weapons magazines and 539 rounds of ammunition and one Nissan Altima sedan.

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