- Governor orders arrests, evictions and withdrawal of transport concessions for those who participate in these actions.
In protest against raids on places where drugs are allegedly distributed and the detention of 30 people, members of organized crime groups forced truck drivers and residents to cross trailers to prevent security forces from entering at least eight municipalities in Chiapas bordering Comitán, where the raids were carried out; this municipality is located in the border zone with Guatemala.
This Sunday, the People’s Security Secretariat and the Chiapas Prosecutor’s Office arrived in the municipality of Comitán to give the “starting gun” to the Pakal Immediate Reaction Force (FRIP); that is, the security group that began operations in Chiapas on December 8, with the inauguration of Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar.
After the start of operations, this group composed of “elite police” -about three hundred of them- dispersed throughout the municipality and carried out searches in places where drugs are allegedly sold and where migrants are being held. Thirty people were arrested during the raids.
In response to this action, a group of people who said they were members of “social organizations,” without specifying which ones, arrived at the offices of the Chiapas Prosecutor’s Office in Comitán, and blocked the entrance to this municipality to demand the release of the detainees.
In response, Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar informed through his social networks that he had given orders for the “unrestricted application of the law. Enough of impunity for crimes that hurt the people of Chiapas! The law is not negotiable. There is authority and there will be order,” he said.
After the order, the police of the so-called Pakal Force dislodged the blockade at the entrance to the municipality of Comitán and the one they maintained outside the Attorney General’s Office.
The response to the eviction was that alleged members of organized crime forced cargo and passenger carriers to block the entrance to eight municipalities bordering Comitán.
Through whatsapp, the voice of an alleged member of organized crime demanded that the truckers “activate to support Comitán (…) if they do not activate they will be fined,” they warned.
At around 6:00 p.m. organized crime blocked with trailers and passing transport units on stretches of highway in the municipalities of Villa de las Rosas, Teopisca, Comitán, Amatenango del Valle, Tzimol, La Trinitaria, Altamirano, and Las Margaritas.
The governor responded to this new action: “I am giving instructions to the Secretary of Transportation to cancel all licenses that are linked to the crime. I asked for the collaboration of the State Attorney General’s Office to carry out all the necessary investigations to reach the maximum consequences with those responsible and owners of these vehicles,” he said in his social networks, from a room where in real time he observes the security cameras in the places where there are blockades.
For its part, the People’s Secretariat announced in a communiqué that in response to the blockades that occurred at the entrances and exits of Comitán “due to gangs that affected the transit and tranquility of the people, authorities of the People’s Security Secretariat (SSP) and the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) were able to reestablish free passage.”
The agency adds that as a result of these events, more than 30 people were detained and handed over to the corresponding authorities to determine their legal status.
Although the entrances to the municipality of Comitán are free, until tonight there are still blockades in places of access to the municipality, such as the communities of Carmelito, El Escobilla, Pujiltic, among others in the municipalities of Villa de las Rosas, Teopisca, Comitán, Amatenango del Valle, Tzimol, La Trinitaria, Altamirano, Las Margaritas.
Original text and photos by Ángeles Mariscal published in Chiapas Paralelo on December 15th, 2024.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.