Cemei Verdia, Former Autodefensa, Ambushed In Colima

 Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

The death of the former leader of the autodefensas of the Sierra-Costa of Michoacán, Cemeí Verdia Zepeda, was reported on Thursday night.  He was reportedly being transferred to a hospital in Jalisco after being ambushed in Colima by armed subjects.

Updated 11/29

Through social networks and on his official account, reports arose about the ambush in which he was seriously injured.  He was immediately transferred to a hospital to receive first aid, however, unofficial sources confirmed the death of the autodefensa, who since 2012, rose up in arms with a group of residents of the Sierra-Costa of Michoacán to defend their territory from organized crime groups.

Other close sources have reported that he is still alive but in serious condition.

Subsequently, the autodefensa movements of José Manuel Mireles Valverde and Hipólito Mora in the Tierra Caliente region began.

A month ago, Verdia Zepeda denounced on national media that there is still an insecurity crisis in the coastal zone and the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán and that violent acts such as murders and clashes between cartels have increased in recent months.

He even pointed out that the leaders of the autodefensa groups that participated in the movement in 2013 have received death threats from organized crime groups and the Community Police.  In his case, he had to leave the municipality of Aquila to go to Jalisco to have greater protection.  He had already been warned for months by armed subjects.

In July of this year, the former autodefensa leader also denounced that crime groups had wanted to make him disappear, so he had gone to Morelia to publicly request the federal government to provide greater security, because “they have been ignoring my request, especially the Mexican Army since they’ve been the ones participating in illegal things,” he said.

11/29 Update:

Cemeí Antonio Verdía Zepeda, former autodefensa leader of the indigenous municipality of Aquila, is in stable in a hospital in the State of Jalisco, after he was shot at yesterday when in the company of several day laborers as he prepared the land in a papaya orchard in Colima.

A relative of Verdía Zepeda, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, reported that this morning Zepeda continues to be in a private Jalisco hospital, where he was transferred by his companions.

The attack occurred yesterday afternoon in a papaya orchard located in Colima, near the border area with Michoacán, where an alleged hitman shot Verdía Zepeda with a firearm, apparently .22 caliber.

Sources: Mi Morelia, 20 Minutos

Categories: Autodefensas, Drug War, mexico, Mexico Drug War