14 state police officers abducted by gunmen in southern Mexico

In a disturbing incident, 14 state police officers were abducted by armed men in southern Mexico. This prompted an extensive operation involving federal and local forces to locate the missing officers. Chiapas state’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection confirmed that all 14 officers were male and a combined air and ground operation was launched to find them.

An anonymous official from the state police force revealed that the officers were traveling in a personnel transport truck to the capital of Chiapas when they were ambushed by several trucks carrying gunmen. The female officers in the vehicle were released, but the male officers were taken captive.

The abduction occurred on the highway between Ocozocoautla and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, as depicted in the map below:

Violence in the Mexican border region with Guatemala has been on the rise due to a territorial dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which have been vying for control over the area.

During a visit to Chiapas, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador downplayed the violence in the region, claiming that “in general there is peace, there is tranquility” in the state. However, just before the president’s visit, an official from the Attorney General’s Office was shot and her companion was killed in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The injured official is currently hospitalized.

In another incident on June 19, a clash between the military and presumed members of organized crime resulted in the death of a National Guard member and a civilian in Ocozocoautla, close to where the recent kidnapping took place.