The dispute between the Knights Templar and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) over territory encompassing the municipalities of Pátzcuaro and Erongarícuaro resulted in the deaths of at least five people and an ambush of Civil Guard officers in Michoacán.
The events unfolded in two separate incidents on Monday, May 4th. First, a confrontation between the groups left five people dead inside a burned-out pickup truck on the slopes of Cerro de San Miguel Charahuén, and a sixth in the vicinity.
Later that afternoon, Civil Guard officers conducting patrols in response to a citizen report of a burning vehicle were attacked with gunfire. No injuries were reported among the officers.
According to the State Attorney General’s Office report, three vehicles were seized at the scene, one of them burned. The discovery of the deceased was also reported, a fact corroborated by personnel from the institution, who, based on evidence gathered at the scene, indicated that they had died in the previous confrontation.
This Tuesday, State Attorney General Carlos Torres Piña stated that the confrontation at the location stemmed from “a dispute between the Knights Templar and the Jalisco Cartel, a confrontation that has been frequent in the Pátzcuaro and Erongarícuaro area.”
Pátzcuaro is governed by Julio Alberto Arreola Vázquez of the Green Party, who last September filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office regarding threats against him via phone calls and text messages.
Source: proceso
