A military/police operation to arrest a leading figure in the Jalisco Nuevo Generation Cartel (CJNG) unleashed a wave of coordinated violent incidents in Guadalajara and municipalities in the neighboring state of Guanajuato Tuesday evening, with armed gang members torching buses, cars, gas stations and stores.
As in past episodes of this kind (referred to in the Mexican media as “narcobloqueos”), the violent acts appeared to be a diversionary tactic to confuse the military and law enforcement agencies.
Federal authorities say the CJNG’s response in metro-area Guadalajara and the state of Guanajuato was sparked off by a confrontation between cartel operatives and the military and National Guard at kilometer 31 of the Saltillo highway near Ixtlahuacán del Río, on the limits of the Zapopan municipality. Seven vehicles were set alight during this clash, which resulted in five arrests and one death, according to a Jalisco government briefing.
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