Deadly Fire in Downtown Colima After Gunmen Shoot Up Business and Throw Molotovs

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Gunmen allegedly shot up and threw Molotov cocktails at a small business, causing a deadly fire which killed two, in the city of Colima in the state of the same name. Cartel extortion is one of the suspected motives behind the attack.

The Attack on the Business

On Monday, June 6, 2022, the emergency phone line received a call reporting a large fire was blazing through a business located on Ignacio Sandoval Avenue in the downtown area of the city of Colima. 

According to initial reports, neighbors heard the sound of gunfire followed by the sound of molotov cocktails being tossed during the immediate lead up to the outbreak of the fire. Colima Noticias reports that four armed men were spotted fleeing the area inside a vehicle shortly after tossing the Molotov cocktails, which quickly engulfed the business in flames. 

A video, seen below, alleged to show the smoke billowing out the property was uploaded online.

Video Source: Tridente Informativo Colima

Video Source: Carlos Galindo

Video Source: Ad Colima

Video Source: El Noticiero Colima

Emergency personnel, including firefighters, were called to the reported location where they found a business in flames. They found that residents of the area were already on scene, trying to quell the flames with buckets of water and fire extinguishers. Authorities cordoned off the area while the firefighters worked to control and end the fire. 

After the fire had been put out, personnel allegedly found two sets of burned human remains, presumed to belong to the owners of the property. A video alleged to show the two bodies was uploaded by Calvarie_Locus. As of the writing of this story, authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims. 

The video below contains graphic content. It depicts multiple burned bodies.

Video Source: Calvarie_Locus

The same day a woman was reportedly shot to death inside a grocery store in the Torres Quintero neighborhood by gunmen aboard a motorcycle according to Ad Colima. 

Roughly two weeks ago, on May 20, 2022, two women were shot dead inside a parcel company in the city of Colima. During this attack, Molotov cocktails were also thrown in an attempt to burn down the business.

The Cartel Context

 

This series of attacks on businesses in the city of Colima may be the work of a cartel organization cracking down on businesses who have not paid de piso, a term for an extortion fee that is regularly collected by cartel organizations from small businesses in territories they control. 

 

These attacks may also be due to rival cartel factions warring over who controls the territory of the city, and, possibly punishing small businesses that pay fees to their rivals.

 

As previously covered in this story, a federal intelligence map of the cartel territories was shown during a presidential press conference on February 25, 2022. The map depicted that the two main cartel forces in the state were the Sinaloa Cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa, CDS) and the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). 

 

Near the city of Colima, located in the central north half of the state, two areas were shown as being in a part of an internal CJNG dispute, likely referring to the splinter group formed by José Bernabé Brizuela Meraz, alias La Vaca, who declared war against the larger CJNG organization in February 2022. For more details on that, please see this previous story. 

La Vaca’s main rival according to the chart presented at the press conference was Aldrin Jarquín Jarquín, alias “El Chaparrito”, who was arrested in March 2022 and no longer presents a threat to La Vaca.

However, based on banners released by  Vaca, his dispute was against the whole CJNG organization and not just El Chaparrito, so a continued cartel war near the city of Colima means that the CJNG has likely filled Chaparrito’s previous position with a new plaza boss and the rivalry lives on.

Sources: Milenio, El Occidental, El Comentario, Vox Populi Noticias, Ad Colima, AF Medios, Notiirealidad Urbana, Azucena Uresti, Colima Noticias, Archivo Digital Colima, Diario de Colima Video 1, Video 2

May 20th Incident Sources: Proceso, El Heraldo de Mexico

Further Reading

For more details about the CJNG vs La Vaca conflict and the history of La Vaca himself, please see this previous story.

For more details about CJNG’s Colima leader El Chorro, please see this previous story.

For more details about Sinaloa Cartel’s Colima leader Changuito Ántrax, please see this previous story.

For more details about one of CJNG’s Colima plaza bosses, El Sky, please see this previous story.