VIDEO: Tepeaca, Puebla; 10 Minutes of Terror in a Shootout

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Infobae y El Sol
             

Neighbors filmed families and shocked residents as they fled the area of ​​the armed confrontation.

Villagers of Tepeaca in Puebla had a night full of fear. On Sunday around 20:00 a gunfire broke out in the streets that lasted ten minutes. (10pm)

The noise of the detonations woke the neighbors of the area of ​​the road to San José Zahuatlán at the height of the Barranca del Águila and alerted others more than they were in the streets. A video recorded during the shooting shows how some parents with their children heard the detonations and ran to try to safety.

The inhabitants informed the authorities who arrived at the site when there were no more people and the gunmen had fled.

Elements of the municipal police and the National Guard only found bushings on the ground and bullet impacts on the facade of a house.

                          Families who heard the detonations ran to try to protect themselves 

Witnesses informed the local media that the bullets arose after a persecution that occurred between two alleged criminal groups. It was probably people who are engaged in theft and fuel traffic, known as "huachicoleros".

Despite the duration of the confrontation and the number of bullets found, the authorities reported that there were no victims. In the following hours there were no more episodes of violence in the area, so the neighbors calmed down.

The security teams undertook an operation and investigations to know the origin of the confrontation and those involved in it, but so far they have not provided information about it.

Tepeaca is a poblano municipality in which in recent times there have been clashes between authorities and people who extract gasoline from the Pemex pipelines. In July of this year there was a shooting and two units of Petróleos de México (Pemex) calcined.

In the confrontation, the National Guard arrested 13 people who were linked to the use of a clandestine fuel outlet, and attacks on Pemex Physical Security personnel.

Among those arrested were Genaro "N", known as "El General" one of the supposed huachicoleros leaders of the state and that is related to Roberto de los Santos, "El Bukanas", another ringleader of a criminal group in Tepeaca.

Puebla, Hidalgo and Guanajuato are the entities where the crime of fuel theft has been reported and, therefore, where there have been more clashes between armed groups and authorities.

Earlier this year, in January, an element of the Federal Police died in training between the Gendarmerie and this group of criminals, in Huixcolotla, Puebla.

The agents were chasing a truck that had a report of theft, when other vehicles reached them and shot them. Among them, a shootout was assembled from which four security elements were injured. One of them died upon arrival at the hospital.

In 2018, fuel theft recorded 14,894 clandestine shots, representing losses of approximately 147,000 million pesos per year for Petróleos Mexicanos. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador decided to put a priority on his government to end this crime.

The first step in its strategy was the closure of pipelines that were connected to possible illegal intakes, in addition to the repair of leaks from which gasoline was also extracted.

Attempts were also made to detain the main parties involved in the cartels dedicated to hachicoleo, which unleashed armed clashes between the authority and the criminals.

AMLO said in its First Government Report that this illegal activity had decreased 94%, saving millions of pesos to the oil company.