“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
The criminal group charges for every kilo of tortillas they sell, meat, soft drinks, beer, alcohol and livestock.
The ‘Familia Michoacana’ charges a tax.
As happens in several municipalities in Guerrero, for almost three months in at least three communities in the coastal municipalities of Petatlan and Zihuatanejo, organized crime has implemented a “tax” on food, drinks, livestock and even homes.
Alleged members of the Familia Michoacana have charged for every kilo of tortillas they sell, meat, soft drinks, beer, alcohol, livestock and recently even for every inhabited house.
MILENIO confirmed that in some coastal communities, alleged members of the criminal group Familia Michoacana, since November 2023, in the towns of Miguelito, Coacoyul, El Zarco in the municipality of Zihuatanejo, and Los Achotes in the municipality of Petatlán, and other towns located on the coast of Guerrero, have implemented a “property tax” and each family must pay 40 pesos per week regardless of whether the residents pay rent, if it is borrowed or if the house is their own.
According to citizens affected, who requested anonymity, the mechanism to carry out the collection begins with a call to the commissioners of the towns, who are asked to take a census of the number of houses in the area and then asked to provide the names of all the heads of families in each community, who are then extorted.
The sources added that in case of non-payment of the tax, the person in charge of the FM will go to the house to force the person to give the money and if he/she still refuses, he/she will be punished, since the quota “is not forgiven” and he/she is forced to pay it in full.
“You have to pay, if you don’t, they give you your ‘beat down’, and you have to pay anyway,” say the villagers.
The alleged leader of the group that imposed the “tax” is identified as El Michoacáno.
The fees they charge are two pesos for each kilo of tortilla, one peso for each drink, be it soft drink, juice, beer or yogurt.
But, according to the villagers, these two pesos are not paid by the shopkeeper, but by the consumer, because the owner of the business increases the costs to recover the tax imposed by the members of the criminal group.
The extortion doesn’t end there; in the case of cattle, pigs and goats, they charge one peso for each kilo of live cattle.
As an example, they explain, if each kilo of live cattle is worth 52 pesos, the client pays 53, and once again the buyer is the one affected.
This situation has caused an undetermined number of families to emigrate from these communities and go to other towns to avoid paying taxes on basic foodstuffs.
Cases similar to those in the Costa Grande region have recently been reported in some businesses in Taxco de Alarcón and in most of the Tierra Caliente region of Guerrero, almost all of which pay “taxes”, a region dominated by the leaders of the Familia Michoacána, namely Jhonny Hurtado Olascoaga nicknamed El Pez, and José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga alias El FresaIncluso, The most affected are in the municipalities of Ajuchitlán del Progreso, Arcelia, Coyuca de Catalán, Cutzamala de Pinzón, Pungarabato, San Miguel Totolapan, Tlalchapa, and Tlapehuala, the inhabitants in these areas are spared from having to make a payment if their homes are utilized by the Familia Michoacána.