Migrant rescue sparks gunfight between authorities and alleged CJNG hitmen in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz

Eight migrants were freed in the operation, including a minor who, along with other women, had been illegally deprived of their liberty

The Veracruz State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) reported that a migrant rescue sparked a confrontation between federal security authorities and armed individuals in the municipality of Tierra Blanca, Veracruz.

According to the ministerial authority, intelligence work led to the identification of the whereabouts of the victims.

Elements of the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena), the National Guard and the Navy Secretariat (Semar) participated in this operation, which were received with gunfire by the kidnappers.

“During the operation, five individuals were arrested, as well as the seizure of weapons used by the perpetrators. The police officers deployed at the site were received with gunfire,” explained the local Public Prosecutor’s Office on its X account.

The Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office noted that with this operation, the criminal cell was dismantled, whose name was not mentioned.

According to the newspaper Reforma, the attackers of the armed forces are alleged members of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG).

A four-year-old boy, kidnapped in a mountainous area of ​​Veracruz, was rescued after an intense search that began on June 7. The operation was carried out in the municipality of Atzalán, where neighbors collaborated by closing all access to facilitate the intervention of the authorities.

The rescue was achieved thanks to a set of actions that included the participation of canine agents, prosecutors, experts and police elements. The child, named Raúl, was found under the power of a man and a woman identified as Ana María “N”, alias “la China”, and Juan Manuel “N”, alias “el Pelón”.

According to the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), the minor was kidnapped from his home in the town of Pochotita by an armed subject. The kidnappers, unable to flee the area, went into the mountains, where they held the child.

At a press conference, Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez revealed that it was Raúl’s cousin who planned the kidnapping. “Unfortunately, this woman is a relative of the child, they are cousins ​​and she planned this kidnapping,” said García Jiménez. In addition to the two people arrested, there are two others involved in the kidnapping.

The objective of the kidnapping was to demand a ransom for the child. Investigations continue and arrest warrants have been issued to capture the other people involved. Raúl was handed over to his parents after undergoing medical evaluations.

So far in 2024, Veracruz has registered a worrying increase in kidnapping cases. According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, 85 cases of kidnapping were reported in the first six months of the year, which represents an increase of 25% compared to the same period of the previous year. Various criminal groups active in the region are accused of being responsible for this increase.

The Specialized Unit for Combating Kidnapping (UECS) reports that in 70% of the registered cases, they managed to free the victims through police operations and the payment of ransoms.

Source: infobae