Mexico City, Dec 9 (EFE).- A battle between suspected of a criminal organization known as the Michoacán Family and residents of a town in the Mexican state of Mexico left 14 people dead, two missing and four injured, authorities said.
Andrés Andrade, secretary of security for the state of Mexico, issued a statement Friday night saying that 11 of the dead were “possible of a criminal group” and that the investigation into the facts would continue.
The incident occurred Friday in the community of Texcaltitlán, in the central state of Mexico, after residents of the community clashed with of the criminal group known as Familia Michoacana.
According to local press reports, the confrontation occurred because residents were being extorted by individuals claiming to be of the criminal group, who had imposed a levy on crops planted by the locals.
Videos circulating on social networks show the moments leading up to the confrontation, with dozens of villagers in a sports field verbally confronting the alleged criminals, who are armed.
At some point, shots are heard, and although some people fall to the ground, others pounce on the alleged gang and begin a fistfight.
The Michoacán Family is one of a number of criminal groups in Mexico fighting over the control, production, and trafficking of drugs such as marijuana and methamphetamine, as well as illegal economies such as extortion, kidnapping, and freight robbery.
Mexico reported 30,968 homicides in 2022, a 7.1% annual decrease compared to the previous year when 33,308 murders were reported. This was the second year of decline, after a peak in violence in 2020 (34,554 murders) and 2019 (34,690). EFE
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