Michoacán: shocking shooting chase left four dead in Coahuayana

On the afternoon of this Sunday, April 17, in the municipality of Coahuayana, Michoacán, there was an armed aggression against four civilians traveling in a vehicle in which they were apparently fleeing their aggressors

According to local sources, since the early morning the Municipal Police received the report of a vehicle, a white sedan, that had entered at full speed, and along the main street, the town of San Juan Alima.

The crew members of that vehicle, according to witnesses who witnessed the scene, were being chased and during the getaway they ran over a young woman and caused fear among the people who were partying.

The woman was reportedly assisted by paramedics from the emergency services who were requested by the people who were there, while the subjects on board the vehicle continued to flee towards the state of Colima, as reported by the newspaper Primera Plana.

Later, emergency number 911 received the report of several detonations by firearms in the vicinity of the San Juan de Alima exit, heading for Coahuayana, and it was later alerted that the facade of a building had been shot down near the El Ticuiz community cruise ship.

Upon arriving at the scene, the cops who responded to the report found the sedan car with gunshot projectile impacts. Inside were the bodies of three men, and about 150 meters from the vehicle, in a banana garden, the body of a fourth individual was located.

Staff of the Attorney General's Office (FGE) initiated the investigations. During the evidence collection, the officers secured a firearm and three grenades, requesting the intervention of personnel of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena).

So far, the identity of the deceased, who had bullet injuries, is unknown. The bodies were taken to the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo).

José Alfredo Ortega Reyes, Secretary of Public Security of Michoacán, attributes that the wave of violence in the state is exacerbated by the spread of criminal groups that have established routes of passage between neighboring entities.

The official reiterated the explanations that had only been mentioned circumstantially by Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, with the intention of seeking police coordination with Jalisco, Guerrero, Colima, Guanajuato, and which already entered into force on February 24 with the State of Mexico.

Ortega Reyes explained in an interview with Infobae Mexico that 45 of Michoacán's 113 municipalities are bordered by 46 mayors, more than five states, something used by criminal cells to pursue their interests in one area and take refuge in another, seeking refuge in another impunity for any crime.

“This limitation between states makes the criminal situation in itself, because a criminal group may be operating in the state of Michoacán, committing some criminal activity, committing some crime and moving to the state of Jalisco,” he explained.

Since 1990, the Millennium Cartel expanded in that region and by 2005 the Zetas entered the battle to extend their dominance from Tamaulipas. This led to the beginning of the drug war in that home state of then-President Felipe Calderón in late 2006.

Faced with the lack of control, Enrique Peña Nieto's government legitimized the community with weapons and uniforms, but there was an infiltration of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG). Other leaders forgiven not to be persecuted continued their dominion and joined together in new cells that established alliances in United Cartels in 2019, by suspending agreements with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes's group, el Mencho.

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