Federal security spokesman Alejandro Poire is quoted by the Associated Press affirming that “the violence is a product of this criminal rivalry…surrounding the intent to control illegal activities in a community.”
Poire said that 11 more bodies were also found on Friday, killed by an offshoot crime group of the La Familia gang. Early Saturday morning 10 more people were found dead in Torreon, allegedly resulting from fighting between the Zetas and Sinaloa cartels.
In response to this violence, Mexican authorities say that they have dispatched roughly 1,800 federal police to Michoacán, where gang members have gained influence. In Michoacán earlier last week, police were attacked by and killed four members of a crime gang. The Associated Press reports that gang members have blocked highways and are attacking motorists in retaliation for the death of their gang members. On Saturday federal police reportedly killed three more gang members that were allegedly pulling people out of their vehicles.
Recently, police have made a number of high profile arrests including suspected co-founder of the Zetas gang Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, and alleged leader of the La Familia gang Jose de Jesus Mendez Varga. On Monday police arrested Armando Villareal Heredia, 33, suspected boss of drug trafficking for the Tijuana cartel. Despite these efforts official reports say that 35,000 have died in the past five years, supposedly because of gang violence.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, voiced concerns in her speech this weekend in Mexico City about the increased violence in the country. Pillay stated that the influence of organized crime undermines the state and called for the government to “respond and provide redress.”
