Two alleged leaders of Los Ardillos — the Squirrels — have been arrested by state police final week and indicted on drug and weapons expenses Monday. That triggered the huge march by residents of villages round Chilpancingo. Los Ardillos is considered one of 16 crime teams in Guerrero that battle over drug-trafficking, kidnapping and extortion rackets, in response to Protection Ministry paperwork cited by the every day Milenio. The state is a prime producer of opium poppy, the primary ingredient of heroin.
After greater than 24 hours of chaos, the Guerrero state authorities, led by López Obrador’s Morena celebration, defused the violence Tuesday afternoon. The demonstrators freed 13 hostages — state law enforcement officials, nationwide guard troops and civilian authorities officers — and ended their blockade of the toll street from Mexico Metropolis to the vacationer resort of Acapulco.
Photographs of hundreds of demonstrators converging on the Guerrero state capital surprised even Mexicans accustomed to the acute violence of organized-crime teams. Information organizations estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 individuals from communities managed by Los Ardillos swarmed Chilpancingo on Monday. Demonstrators seized an armored safety automobile generally known as a “Rhino” from state police and rammed it by way of the gates in entrance of the state legislature as panicked authorities employees fled.
Safety forces hurled tear fuel canisters on the protesters, who have been armed with rocks, sticks and machetes. However the 500 police and nationwide guard troops have been compelled to retreat.
Nobody was reported killed. However the photographs known as to thoughts the 2019 seizure of the northwestern metropolis of Culiacán by gunmen after authorities tried to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López, son of the famed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.
“In the present day criminals don’t profit solely from a daunting arsenal, however a terrifying capability to carry individuals into the streets and confront safety forces,” the left-wing every day La Jornada editorialized. It accused federal and state authorities of getting deserted the impoverished area, permitting crime teams to “create a social base.”
Mexico’s secretary of public safety, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, stated Tuesday that the demonstration was led by members of Los Ardillos. Officers stated some villagers might need been compelled to participate. López Obrador stated the federal government opted for a low-key response to keep away from bloodshed. “In the event that they [the crime organization] threaten you and make you take part, act with prudence, with warning,” he urged residents in televised remarks Tuesday morning. “Don’t confront the leaders of those teams, keep quiet, however don’t allow them to manipulate you.”
But the siege confirmed how empowered crime teams have turn out to be in lots of components of Mexico, the place some command a major following.
“What was totally different about this was the scope of the entire thing,” stated Falko Ernst, Mexico analyst for the Worldwide Disaster Group. The protesters “took over not only a complete metropolis, authorities installations and a significant freeway in Mexico, however in addition they took public officers hostage.”
State authorities stated they received the discharge of the hostages in talks with the demonstrators in change for public works initiatives.
Chilpancingo’s mayor, Norma Otilia Hernández, is battling a scandal over her alleged ties to organized-crime figures. Mexican media just lately aired a video of her having breakfast at a restaurant with an alleged chief of Los Ardillos, apparently after she took workplace in 2021. Final month, in entrance of a church in Chilpancingo, authorities discovered the stays of seven individuals — together with 5 males’s heads within the trunk of a automotive.
The stays have been accompanied by a word addressed to the mayor: “I’m nonetheless ready for that second breakfast you promised me if you sought me out.”
The mayor, a member of the president’s celebration, has urged the legal professional basic to research the video. “There wasn’t any take care of criminals,” she advised reporters.
Gabriela Martínez contributed to this report.
