A family was forced to walk several kilometers in the cold and night after being robbed on the Puebla-Orizaba highway near the Cumbres de Maltrata, one of the coldest areas in the country.
According to the Atzitzintla City Council, located on the slopes of Citlaltépetl Mountain, members of the Municipal Police and Civil Protection provided assistance to the victims after they arrived on their own.
“The family walked to the municipal seat and were provided temporary shelter and food,” reported the municipal authority, who also provided legal advice to file a complaint.
This is how the search for the car unfolded
Members of the Puebla State Police arrived in Atzitzintla to interview the family, who filed a complaint to begin the search for their vehicle, which was stolen by armed civilians.
Hours later, the car was found abandoned on the Puebla-Orizaba highway near the municipality of Maltrata, Veracruz, where it was seized by National Guard personnel.
Crime records in the municipality of Atzitzintla show that six four-wheeled vehicle thefts have been committed so far this year, four of which were violent, according to the Puebla State Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
While the number is lower compared to other municipalities in the region, such as Tecamachalco with 133, Ciudad Serdán with 31, and Esperanza with 25, Atzitzintla’s proximity to the Puebla-Orizaba highway makes it vulnerable to thefts carried out by criminal groups in the border area.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT), the Puebla-Orizaba highway is the state’s most dangerous, with 148 reports of cargo theft during the first quarter of the year.
This road has been the epicenter of multiple instances of violence over the last decade, as it is located within the so-called red triangle, where criminals drilled into Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pipelines to extract hydrocarbons.
However, given the decline in the huachicol market in Puebla, criminal groups have shifted to other crimes to finance their operations, primarily cargo theft, vehicle theft, kidnapping, extortion, and drug dealing.
Puebla SSP Highlights Operation
On the other hand, the Puebla Public Security Secretariat (SSP) issued a financial summary regarding the implementation of the Safe Summer Vacation operation, which is being carried out on state highways in coordination with the Secretariats of the Navy (Semar), National Defense (Defense), as well as the National Guard and the 217 municipal police forces.
The agency reported that, from July 21 to August 6, they have arrested 163 people and recovered 104 stolen vehicles, in addition to seizing 27 units for probable use in criminal acts.
In this regard, the State Police highlighted air and ground patrols in municipalities with a high crime rate, such as Tepeaca, Acatzingo, Cuapiaxtla de Madero, Tecamachalco, Palmar de Bravo, Izúcar de Matamoros, Tepeojuma, and Chietla, where 26,139 proximity operations were carried out, along with inspections of 332 vehicles and 133 motorcycles.
Source: milenio
