The Mexican Army lost two soldiers during the confrontation.
Orbelín Hernández Peñaloza, also known as “El Gordo,” who was identified as the plaza boss for La Familia Michoacana in Coyuca de Catalán and Ciudad Altamirano, was killed in a confrontation with soldiers in Guerrero. The confrontation also left 2 soldiers and 5 hitmen killed, including two of his sons; Isaac and Lide.
The actions took place last Friday, March 17, in the community known as El Pescado, in the municipality of Coyuca de Catalán, but the confirmation of his death was not reported until Monday, March 20. After the confrontation, the soldiers found four AR-15-type rifles, a handgun, various magazines, ammo, and two fragmentation grenades.
The armed confrontation would have started at 3:00 p.m. last Friday. On that occasion, the uniformed men had been attacked by around 18 armed individuals who were in trucks. The soldiers killed were identified as Bernardino Enrique Gálvez and infantryman Marco Antonio Rizo Ventura. In addition, there were two other wounded soldiers identified as Eduardo Cervantes Hernández, infantry lieutenant, and Emiliano Torres Beltrán, infantry corporal.
El Duranzo Massacre
On December 10, 2022, around 50 trucks with the letters FM arrived at the El Durazno community in Coyuca de Catalán, Guerrero. Armed men emerged from the vehicles, dragging several people from their homes to execute them in the parking lot of an elementary school.
Testimonies indicated that while they opened fire they shouted the names of those who had sent them to carry out the attack: El Pez, El Borrego, and El Gordo. Therefore, it is presumed that Hernández Peñaloza would have been related to the El Duranzo Massacre.
After the shooting ended, the hitmen toured the town and on the main street, they sprayed gasoline and set fire to a man identified as Bonifacio Torres. Subsequently, they fired at the facades of some houses and threatened to return and kill all the residents and burn their homes.