In recent days, two of the criminal groups fighting over the state of Michoacán released videos with the aim of making their presence known in the municipality of Parácuaro, located in the Tepalcatepec region that connects the state with Jalisco.
First, a recording circulated in which alleged members of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) warned of their settlement in the municipal capital to continue the “cleanse” of members of the rival organization, the Knights Templar.
In the audiovisual material, the alleged hitmen showed off a banner that complemented their threat to the antagonist cartel and the public security forces in Parácuaro. “The Municipal Police is advised to stop helping Los Templarios or they will become enemies. Be even,” could be read on the piece of cloth.
Later, the Knights Templar group responded to this intimidation with another video message, allegedly recorded in the vicinity of Lake Parácuaro, a few blocks from the Municipal Presidency and the historic center.
Equipped with military clothing, tactical vests and assault rifles, the apparent hitmen identified themselves as members of the criminal group and shouted various slogans such as “We are here and we have not left” or “Parácuaro is ours and we will not leave it.”
Days before both materials were circulated, the local press reported that elements of the Armed Forces located and destroyed a drug camp in the mountainous area of Parácuaro. Presumably, the clandestine installation was used by criminals as a base to carry out surveillance work.
Also, on January 9, elements of the National Defense Secretariat (Defense) exchanged gunfire with a group of armed civilians in a mango orchard in the town of Los Bancos, north of the municipal capital.
According to the official narrative, the military were carrying out surveillance patrols when they observed several armed individuals inside the orchard. These, upon noticing the presence of the soldiers, unloaded their weapons. The confrontation lasted several minutes and ended with two alleged hitmen killed.
The dispute between the Knights Templar and the CJNG for control of the region has been noticeable in recent weeks also in the municipality of Apatzingán, bordering Parácuaro.
In that demarcation, alleged members of the Jalisco cartel abandoned a total of five human heads in different parts of the city between January 14 and 18. In each of the criminal acts, at least one cardboard sign was found with messages against the Templars.
Source: infobae
