The residents of Taxco experienced a night of violence and panic after police and gunmen from a criminal cell clashed in a shootout at midnight on Tuesday in various parts of the city.
“Psychosis has returned, and the public remains frightened,” said workers in the silver-mining city consulted on Wednesday.
Security sources reported that gunmen fired on the home of former police officer Andrés Sotelo Juárez, alias “Bugui,” a close associate of fugitive former mayor Mario Figueroa.
Around 11:30 p.m., gunshots were reported in the Cantarranas neighborhood, in the north of the city, near Los Plateros Avenue, authorities reported.
The objective, according to municipal sources, was to kidnap Andrés Sotelo, but he reportedly managed to escape.
“El Buguis” was a municipal police officer, a close associate of former mayor Mario Figueroa, who is a fugitive wanted for organized crime, and the head of the municipal video surveillance system, the Command, Control, Communications, and Computing Center (C-4).
He was arrested on September 5, 2024, for the crimes of homicide and forced disappearance, but released months later due to alleged lack of evidence.
Later, the group moved to the Chorillo neighborhood where they exchanged gunfire with municipal police officers. The gunmen abandoned a maroon Toyota RAV4 and fled on foot.
In the morning, the mayor of Taxco, Juan Andrés Vega, a member of the Morena party, reported that immediate attention was given to reports of gunfire in the Cantarranas neighborhood.
And that ongoing coordination meetings are being held with Municipal Public Security, State Police, the National Defense Secretariat, the Guerrero State Attorney General’s Office, and the National Guard to closely monitor the situation.
No injuries or deaths were reported, only one vehicle seized with a reported theft.
In this context of criminal violence, the disappearance of Lizeth Cecilia Arteaga Saavedra, who has been missing since Tuesday afternoon, was announced this Wednesday.
Sources consulted confirmed that the public remains frightened.
“The psychosis has returned; people are scared—workers, public transportation drivers. You can feel it in the atmosphere.”
This tourist destination has suffered a series of acts of criminal violence that intensified since 2021 with the arrival of former mayor Mario Figueroa Mundo.
One of the crimes suffered by business owners, merchants, taxi drivers, and even participants in Holy Week celebrations has been extortion, perpetrated by a cell of the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana, according to reports from these sectors.
Just at the beginning of the year, the population experienced a shortage of LP gas when the main companies closed due to alleged threats, extortion, and attempts by criminals to monopolize sales of the product. Service has been slowly restored.
Source: proceso
