6 bystanders killed in crossfire of armed clashes near resort city of Acapulco
Clashes between two armed groups left six civilians dead near Mexico's crime-plagued beachside city of Acapulco, authorities said Tuesday.
The violence erupted on Monday night in a town called Kilometro 30 located on a highway to Mexico City, the Guerrero state prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The victims were five men and an elderly woman who were caught in the crossfire, said municipal commissioner Adan Casarrubias. Three people were injured.
Soldiers and police found weapons in an armored vehicle in the town, where several cars were set ablaze.
Armed men in at least three vehicles were involved in the confrontation, which terrified residents, Casarrubias said.
"Even if it's with pans, sticks, or whatever, we're going to fight for our town," he said.
Officials said a long-barreled weapon, magazines, cartridges, seven vehicles (including an armored truck), tire-puncturing weapons and five improvised explosive devices were seized during the investigation.
Once-thriving beach resort now blighted by violence
In its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, Acapulco was a playground of the rich and famous. Today the city once known as "the pearl of the Pacific" is engulfed by violence linked to drug cartels.
On Thursday, the administrator of a Facebook news page was gunned down in Acapulco.
Lst December, a judge was shot dead in his car outside an Acapulco courthouse.
In May 2024, 10 bodies were found scattered around the city. A month before that, the head of traffic police was shot to death when assailants opened fire on him on a street relatively far away from the resort's beaches.
In February 2024, two men were found dead on a popular beach in Acapulco, and prosecutors said the men's bodies bore "signs of torture around the neck." That same month, three people were shot dead on beaches in Acapulco, one by gunmen who arrived -- and escaped -- aboard a boat.
Acapulco is part of the state of Guerrero, one of the worst affected by drug trafficking in the country. It is among six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'I hope they find peace': Community mourns loss of 19-year-old found dead in Apopka
A family is waiting for answers from investigators. They say they have no idea what happened to their son, who was found dead near their home in South Apopka. 'It's just been quiet. Nobody saw it coming. So, it's kind of unfortunate because they are good people,' said a neighbor who prefers not to share her name. The woman, who lives across the street from where the incident unfolded, has been in the neighborhood for a few years now, and told Channel 9 she knew the family involved in the tragedy. 'It's very hard, because I do have a son. And that's not easy to handle. I personally don't know what I would do in that spot,' the neighbor said. 'They don't deserve to be in this situation.' On Sunday, just around 3:30 a.m., investigators were called to the intersection of East Ella Gilmore Street and Clarcona Road. The area was surrounded by several deputy vehicles for hours. A Channel 9 crew was there as forensics arrived at the scene. At the location, investigators found 'a man with obvious signs of trauma,' a press release issued by the Orange County Sheriff's Office read. The man was later identified as 19-year-old Kelan J'Juan Rodriguez. On Wednesday, the teen's mother told Channel 9 she hasn't even seen her son's body yet, and her family is still trying to process what happened to them. 'There's violence everywhere now. It's kind of scary. I hope they find peace,' said the neighbor. 'I'm just trying to give her [the teen's mother] time, give her space. I know it's a very hard situation. I'm a mom too. And i know that's super hard so i don't wish up upon nobody. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the case, and so far, there is no word on any arrests. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Brother-in-law of wanted cartel kingpin "El Mencho" sentenced to 30 years in U.S. prison
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels The brother-in-law of the fugitive Jalisco New Generation boss known as "El Mencho" was sentenced Friday to 30 years in U.S. federal prison following his 2017 arrest at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name. José González Valencia, 49, was sentenced in a federal court in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors said that for years he orchestrated a prolific drug trafficking operation, using a semi-submersible and other methods to avoid detection, and provided weapons to one of Mexico's most powerful cartels. González Valencia, known as "Chepa," along with his two brothers, led a group called "Los Cuinis" that financed the drug trafficking operations of Jalisco New Generation, or CJNG. The violent CJNG was one of eight cartels that were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration in February. González Valencia's brother-in-law is CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, who for years has been sought by the U.S. government. The State Department also announced Wednesday that it was sanctioning five CJNG leaders, including "El Mencho," as specially designated global terrorists. Also sanctioned this week was CJNG regional commander Audias Flores Silva, who the State Department said "controls clandestine laboratories used to produce methamphetamine and other illegal drugs trafficked to the United States." Sanctioned as well was CJNG commander Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, who is the prime suspect in the shooting death last month of 23-year-old Mexican influencer Valeria Márquez during a livestream. Velasco and Márquez were believed to be in a romantic relationship, the State Department said. The State Department is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of "El Mencho," and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Silva. FILE - The letters "CJNG" for the group's formal name, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covers the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Oct. 30, 2021. Eduardo Verdugo / AP Meanwhile, El Mencho's son-in-law, Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa, appeared in the same courtroom earlier Friday to plead guilty in a separate case to a money laundering conspiracy charge. Gutierrez Ochoa was arrested toward the end of the Biden administration last year in California, where authorities have said he was living under a bogus name after faking his own death and fleeing Mexico. Together, the prosecutions reflect the U.S. government's efforts to weaken the brutal Jalisco New Generation cartel that's responsible for importing staggering amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States — and track down its elusive leader, El Mencho. The Trump administration has sought to turn up the pressure on CJNG and other cartels with the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation, which gives authorities new tools to prosecute those associated with cartels. "You can't totally prosecute your way out of the cartel problem, but you can make an actual impact by letting people know that we're going to be enforcing this and showing that Mexico is being cooperative with us and then ultimately trying to get high-level targets to sort of set the organization back," Matthew Galeotti, who leads the Justice Department's criminal division, said in an interview with The Associated Press. President Trump's Justice Department has declared dismantling CJNG and other cartels a top priority, and Galeotti said the U.S. in recent months has seen increased cooperation from Mexican officials. In February, Mexico sent 29 cartel figures — including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985 — to the U.S. for prosecution. The Trump administration has already charged a handful of defendants with terrorism offenses since designating CJNG and seven other Latin American crime organizations as FTOs in February. Galeotti said several additional indictments related to CJNG and other cartels remain under seal. "We are taking a division-wide approach to this," Galeotti said. "We've got money laundering prosecutors who are not just focused on the cartels themselves ... but also on financial facilitators. So when we're taking this broad approach ... That's why I think we've had some of the really significant cases that we've had, and we've seen a very significant pipeline." González Valencia pleaded guilty to international cocaine trafficking in 2022. Authorities said he went into hiding in Bolivia in 2015 after leading Los Cuinis alongside his brothers for more than a decade. He was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration after traveling to Brazil, and was later extradited to the U.S. Los Cuinis used "air, land, sea and under-the-sea methods" to smuggle drugs bound for the U.S., prosecutors said. In one instance, authorities said González Valencia invested in a shipment of 4,000 kilograms of cocaine — roughly 8,818 pounds — that was packed in a semi-submersible vessel to travel from Colombia to Guatemala. Other methods employed by Los Cuinis include hiding drugs in frozen shark carcasses, prosecutors said. He's also accused of directing the killing of a rival. González Valencia appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and listened to the hearing through an interpreter over headphones. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sealed part of the hearing, keeping the press and public out of the courtroom while lawyers argued over the sentence. It was not clear why the judge determined it had to be sealed. González Valencia's lawyer declined to comment after the hearing. In the other case, Gutiérrez Ochoa was wanted in Mexico on allegations that he kidnapped two Mexican Navy members in 2021 in the hope of securing the release of El Mencho's wife after she had been arrested by Mexican authorities, prosecutors have said. Authorities have said he faked his own death and fled to the U.S. to avoid Mexican authorities, and that El Mencho told associates he killed Gutiérrez Ochoa for lying. Rosalinda Gonzalez, the wife of El Mencho, was released from Mexican prison in February. El Mencho's son, Rubén Oseguera — known as "El Menchito" — was sentenced in March to life in prison after his conviction in Washington's federal court of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for U.S. importation and using a firearm in a drug conspiracy. In May, a former Mexican federal agent who testified against El Menchito in U.S. federal court was shot dead, along with his wife, about 60 miles outside of Mexico City.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lobbyist accused of threating shooting at MN Capitol charged with felony
A Minnesota lobbyist accused of sending text messages threatening to shoot people at the state Capitol now faces a felony charge. Jonathan Michael Bohn, 41, of Woodbury, has been charged with threats of violence after allegedly sending a string of 'threatening and disparaging' messages to an acquaintance, the Carver County Attorney's Office announced Friday. Bohn, a lobbyist with the Inter Faculty Organization, a union that represents faculty at Minnesota state universities, said he had bought '500 bullets' and was 'excited to have my gun at the capitol and blow somebody's (expletive) face off,' prosecutors allege. The alleged threats did not mention any specific state lawmaker. A person received the messages while at a restaurant in Waconia on Wednesday, according to the criminal complaint, which leaves the alleged victim unnamed for privacy reasons. They came after a 'falling out with the victim over political differences,' the Carver County Attorney's Office said in a news release on the charges. After learning of the alleged threats, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Bohn's Woodbury home and found an unloaded firearm in a locked case in his garage, according to the complaint. Police questioned took him into custody. Bohn remained in the Carver County Jail in Chaska Friday afternoon. At his bail hearing Friday, Judge Eric Braaten set Bohn's bond at $1 million, ordered no contact with the alleged victim and ordered him to stay at least half a mile away from the Minnesota Capitol. In a statement, the Inter Faculty Organization said it had placed Bohn on administrative leave. 'The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) condemns political violence and threats of violence in any form,' union president Jenna Chernega said in a statement. 'Such acts are unacceptable and stand in direct opposition to the values that guide our work: civil discourse, mutual respect, and advocacy rooted in integrity.' Rep. Jim Nash, a Waconia Republican, reported the threatening text to law enforcement on Wednesday. Nash notified the House sergeant at arms, State Patrol and Carver County Sheriff's Office of a 'personal text message to a constituent that was threatening in nature,' the Minnesota House GOP Caucus said in a news release. 'The threat was not aimed at any particular lawmaker but the message did include a threat of violence at the Capitol,' House Republicans said. The news release didn't identify the suspect but said authorities questioned and arrested the person on Wednesday. Republicans said the House sergeant at arms is not aware of any further threats to the Legislature or its staff. Sen. John Hoffman, wife say daughter alerted police to politically motivated shootings Lobbyist in custody for 'threat of violence' at Minnesota Capitol UMN hikes tuition 6.5%, makes program cuts at all campuses Julian Scadden: Recent grads can build their futures in the trades Maple Grove lawmaker confirms gunman visited her home Bohn's arrest comes less than a week after a shooting spree that took the lives of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and her husband, Mark, and injured Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife, Yvette. The alleged gunman visited the homes of two additional lawmakers that same night and had notebooks naming dozens more targets, federal prosecutors said this week. Lawmakers' home addresses have already been removed from the Minnesota Legislature's website, and the Capitol saw a larger security presence than usual this week. Elected officials have again called for new security measures at the state Capitol, such as entry checkpoints with metal detectors and X-ray machines.
