The bodies of 19 people were found in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas, last weekend; at least six of them were carrying IDs issued by the Guatemalan government, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).
It pointed out that the first investigations indicate a confrontation between the criminal groups of the Sinaloa cartel and the aforementioned cartel of Chiapas and Guatemala, which are disputing criminal control in this border area.
It indicated that after the discovery of the bodies, the federal government sent 1,200 elements of the armed forces and the National Guard to the region to support security efforts.
In an informational note, he said that the event was confirmed after a video was released on June 28 showing several lifeless people in the bed of a dump truck, wearing tactical equipment and carrying long weapons.
The alleged creators of the film identify themselves as members of the Sinaloa Cartel and claim that the victims are members of a criminal organization that presumably operates between Chiapas and Guatemala.
The SSPC said that on June 29, a 911 call was received reporting the presence of dead people on a stretch of dirt road that connects Jaltenango de la Paz with the ranchería La Reforma, in the municipality of La Concordia.
Authorities from the three levels of government went to the area, 7.4 kilometers from Jaltenango, in the municipality of La Concordia, and located a Nissan double cab pickup truck and a white dump truck, in the middle of the road.
In the bed of the dump truck they found 14 men killed by firearms, two more in the cab, two on the side and one more, approximately 100 meters from the vehicle, which had high caliber bullet impacts, described the federal agency.
Six had Guatemalan government IDs
The Chiapas prosecutor’s office began the removal of the 19 bodies, as well as the safeguarding of the evidence collected at the site to find those responsible for these events, which were contained in the investigation folder number C.I.0017-020-2908-2024. It was documented that at least six of the deceased were carrying IDs issued by the Guatemalan government.
Security and Citizen Protection reminded that in the region of La Concordia the armed forces have made arrests for the commission of crimes related to drug trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and arms trafficking.
It affirmed that the federal government has been reinforcing security in the area for days with elements of the National Guard and the Secretary of National Defense, and that “over the weekend an increase of 1,200 more troops was ordered to support the security work in the state.”
Original text published in La Jornada on July 2nd, 2024.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.