Public Safety Secretary Minerva Bautista, the top security official in Mexico's western state of Michoacan where the cult-like drug cartel La Familia has been engaged in an insurgency against the government, was wounded today in an ambush which killed four others as reported by Gustavo Ruiz for The Associated Press:
She was traveling in a bullet-resistant sport utility vehicle. State Attorney General Jesus Montejano told the local Milenio television station that the attackers used assault rifles, grenades, a grenade launcher and a powerful .50-caliber sniper rifle whose rounds are capable of penetrating bullet-resistant materials. * * * The dead included two of Bautista's bodyguards and two bystanders. Of the other nine people wounded, most were bystanders, including two girls ages 2 and 12.
And yesterday in Juarez, Mexico -- just a hop, skip and a jump over the border from El Paso, TX -- "gunmen ambushed two police vehicles at a busy intersection in this drug- and violence-plagued city, killing seven officers and a 17-year-old boy who was passing by" as reported by Olivia Torres for The Associated Press:
Hours after the attack, a painted message directed to top federal police commanders and claiming responsibility for the attack appeared on a wall in downtown Ciudad Juarez. It was apparently signed by La Linea gang, the enforcement arm of the Juarez drug cartel. The Juarez cartel has been locked in a bloody turf battle with the Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. "This will happen to you ... for being with El Chapo Guzman and to all the dirtbags who support him. Sincerely, La Linea," the message read.
