“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
They were distributed in Apulco, Nochistlán, Yahualica, Mexticacán and rancherías in both states.
A convoy of alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) distributed toys in municipalities located in the border area of Zacatecas and Jalisco. The same points where this criminal group has unleashed countless shootouts that have caused the displacement of hundreds of families.
Residents reported that the convoy handed out toys with cardboard alluding to the cartel headed by Nemesio Oseguera, El Mencho.
The toys were distributed in the municipalities of Apulco and Nochistlán, belonging to Zacatecas, and in Yahualica and Mexticacán in the highlands of Jalisco.
“They went to the rancherías and in Apulco they went all the way to the very center. They have no shame, instead of handing out toys and wanting to win over the children, they should stop screwing the people, return all the people they have taken,” said a resident to Dominio Público Noticias.
One of those disappeared is Héctor Abner Donoso Cruz, who was abducted in August 2022 when he was installing surveillance cameras for the municipality. He was taken with three other men who were released days later.
Another young man taken by the CJNG last year is Jose Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, who was taken in Tenayuca. Neither has been located to date.
In Apulco, the convoy reached the center of the municipality, where the soldiers were told that they were going to distribute toys on behalf of the municipality, a situation that was denied by the municipality.
Among the group that distributed toys in Apulco, Mauro Yuriel Jauregui, who has been accused of having links to the CJNG and who recently began a campaign to position himself as a candidate for the presidency of the municipality for the elections to be held in 2024, was identified.
“It seems a mockery to us what they are doing, with what face they give toys to children whose parents have been taken from them, to the children of people who have run, how they want to pass for good people, when they have stolen our tranquility,” said a worker of the municipality.
This is not the first time that criminal groups have handed out toys in the areas they dominate, an attempt to win the sympathy of the very children whose peace has been taken away from them.
