“El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
This afternoon, three Celaya police officers were attacked in two separate events, leaving two dead and the third wounded. 41 police officers have been killed in Guanajuato this year, the most dangerous state for police officers in Mexico.
First killing at the Centro de Integración Juvenil de Celaya
In the first event, paramedics and municipal police responded to reports of gunshots in the Rosa Linda neighborhood of Celaya just before noon. They found a female Auxiliary Municipal Police officer slain by gunfire at a juvenile rehab center in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato. The police officer, identified as Maria Soledad “N”, dead with gunshot wounds on the floor of the security checkpoint of Centro de Integración Juvenil de Celaya, a youth criminal rehabilitation center.
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| Photo of María Soledad via AM Noticias |
Second killing at a taco stand
Later that evening around 7:00 p.m., gunmen opened fire on a several Municipal police officers and civilians eating at a taco stand in Los Olivos neighborhood. Witnesses say the attackers drove around the area in several vehicles before attacking. Two police officers were hit, one fatally, along with three civilians. All the wounded were taken to a hospital and are in grave condition, according to AM Noticias.
Heavy police mobilization and raids that night
That night, around 10 p.m., Municipal forces descended on the Los Olivos neighborhood conducting raids and house searches. There are not yet reports as to the results.
According to Periódico Correo 13 police officers have been killed in the city of Celaya this year. Causa en Común’s database on police killings in Mexico reveals that this is the 41st police killing in 2023 in Guanajuato. Nationwide, 206 police officers have been killed.
Between the start of the year and May 2023, Guanajuato has seen 1,128 homicides. Guanajuato has been the most violent state in Mexico by homicide count for five years, mostly due to an intense dispute between two criminal organizations, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion and the Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima. These two criminal groups and their allies fight for control of drug dealing, fuel theft and drug trafficking markets.
The full list of police killed in Celaya this year, compiled by AM Noticias.
January 26th: Marcela Nallely Vázquez Pérez, a municipal police officer from Celaya, was found in a clandestine grave in San Antonio de las Maravillas, in the municipality of Juventino Rosas.
January 27th: Auxiliary police officer Sara, 23 years old, was shot and killed alongside a man in the Las Insurgentes neighborhood.
March 18th: Municipal police officer Luis Alberto Reyes Hernández died in an attack on officers at Parque Morelos.
March 25th: Police officer Ana from Celaya was stabbed to death during her day off in the Jacarandas neighborhood.
April 16th: Lizbeth Yazmín Ramírez Torres, an officer of the Municipal Police of Celaya, was shot and killed at the surveillance booth of the Veleros shopping plaza.
May 19th: Municipal agent Juan Martín Martínez from Celaya died in an ambush.
May 26th: Two police officers from the Municipal Police of Celaya were ambushed and shot dead outside a gym in Rincón de Tamayo.
June 11th: An auxiliary police officer was killed on his day off in the Paseo del Campestre neighborhood.
June 14th: The woman police officer attacked with gunfire in the Ejidal neighborhood died in the hospital.
June 14th: Auxiliary police officer Fernanda was shot in the Santa Rita neighborhood. The officer died hours later in a hospital.
June 24th: Armed men entered the home of police officer Adriana Mireya and shot her to death. She was about to start her shift.
June 27th: Officer María from the Auxiliary Municipal Police was killed at the booth of the Centro de Integración Juvenil.
Sources: Causa en Común, Periódico Correo, Zona Franca, AM Noticias, AM Noticias Attack #2
I tweet about organized crime in Latin America and security in Mexico.