Two Baja California Sur State Police agents are missing and authorities have deployed a strong search operation concentrated in the northern municipality of Comondú.
The agents are assigned to the Reaction Unit of that police corporation and were identified as José Gabriel Morales Meza, 30 years old, thin build and light complexion, and Yair Radilla Flores, 30 years old, thin build, dark complexion, who were assigned to the Police Station in Ciudad Constitución, in that municipality.
The SSPE of BCS confirmed to EL UNIVERSAL that they were last seen on Saturday, September 21, while they were on vacation. They were traveling aboard a white Honda Ridgeline pickup truck, without license plates.
“As they did not show up for the roll call to start their service and did not establish contact with them, the Secretariat of Public Security, in coordination with institutions of the three levels of government, activated the special operation to locate both elements,” the institution stated.
He added that they are in contact with the relatives, who are informed of the search actions, and asked the population to report any information that would help locate him, to 911, the emergency number.
Last night, dozens of police units were deployed in the streets of Ciudad Constitución and the neighboring town of Ciudad Insurgentes, which caused fear and uncertainty among citizens, many of whom preferred to stay in their homes.
According to witnesses, checkpoints have been placed at various points in the municipality and security elements are patrolling some residential areas.
Region with reports of extortion
Comondú -210 kilometers north of La Paz- is a region that has not been exempt from violent events and clashes between criminal groups, including attacks on local police.
Last May, a strong operation was deployed after the identification of a vehicle in which armed people were traveling. During the pursuit, one of the alleged criminals was wounded by a bullet.
In this region, farmers, fishermen and merchants have publicly denounced the increase in extortion, protection money and harassment by members of criminal gangs. Even the bishop emeritus of La Paz, Miguel Ángel Alba Díaz, has referred to this and has urgently called attention to this and other regions, especially in the north of the state.
Local police officers beaten
In 2022, in Ciudad Constitución, a video was recorded of a beating that municipal police officers received when they responded to a call about disturbances in a bar. Armed subjects confronted them and threatened them. After the attack, an operation was launched to search for and arrest the aggressors.
Baja California Sur faced a crisis of violence and insecurity from 2014 to 2018, with hundreds of homicides, the result of rivalries between criminal groups.
In the six years since the crisis, according to the BCS Attorney General’s Office, the state has managed to significantly reduce homicides and position itself with the best perception of security.
Daniel De la Rosa Anaya, the state’s attorney, boasted just last week that according to the National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Security 2024 (ENVIPE), 7 out of 10 resident citizens in the state feel safe.
However, Governor Víctor Castro Cosío has acknowledged that the crime of disappearances has not been reduced. Collectives warn that on the contrary, it continues to increase with dozens of search reports every month.
Source: eluniversal
