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CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
4 cartel suspects killed during chase in Mexico days after ambush killed 5 officers in same area
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Police in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and federal forces killed four suspected criminals on Sunday during a chase in an area bordering Guatemala, the local government said. The incident unfolded just days after five police officers were killed in an ambush by an armed group in the same area. A statement from the local Security Secretariat said the events occurred in the municipality of Frontera Comalapa after security forces were attacked while on a routine patrol. "Authorities repelled the fire... and managed to kill four suspected members of organized crime," the statement said. Local media reported that the security forces may have entered Guatemalan territory during the pursuit. Guatemalan Vice President Karin Herrera wrote on social media that "the border is under control" and that the army and police maintain "an active presence in the area to guarantee the protection and security of the population." The Chiapas Security Secretariat insisted that the operation took place within Mexico. A source from the agency, who asked not to be identified, told AFP the dead were members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The Chiapas Security Secretariat said it seized four trucks, three AK-47 long guns and other weapons after the incident. The agency released images of trucks at the scene and some appeared to be riddled with bullet holes. Police in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and federal forces killed four suspected criminals on Sunday during a chase in an area bordering Guatemala, the local government said. Chiapas Security Secretariat In recent months, Chiapas has been shaken by a bloody turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel — the country's two most powerful criminal organizations. Last week, five Chiapas state police officers patrolling the area were killed after they were ambushed by an armed group in Frontera Comalapa, according to the local Security Secretariat. Authorities shared an image of the slain officers' charred patrol vehicle after it was completely engulfed in flames on a roadway. Later, the agency announced on social media they had arrested a man in connection to the murders. Criminal violence, most of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed around 480,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and left more than 120,000 people missing.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Popular band fined $36,000 for performing songs glorifying drug cartels in Mexico
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico A popular Mexican band has been fined more than $36,000 for performing songs glorifying drug cartels, authorities in the northern city of Chihuahua announced Wednesday. At a Los Tucanes de Tijuana performance on Saturday, nearly a third of their songs were "narcocorridos" glamorizing drug traffickers, according to city official Pedro Oliva. The songs "glorified crime or alluded to the perpetrators of illegal acts," Oliva said in a television interview. Los Tucanes were banned from performing in their home city Tijuana from 2008 to 2023 for alleged shoutouts to two drug traffickers during a concert. Los Tucanes de Tijuana attend The 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards at Michelob ULTRA Arena on November 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, The Latin Recording Academy Several states across the country have imposed restrictions on the controversial subgenre of regional music, which is growing rapidly, even beyond Mexico's borders. In April, the ban sparked a riot during a concert after a singer refused to perform some of his most popular songs. Peso Pluma, who blends corridos with rap and hip-hop, was the seventh most-streamed artist in the world in 2024, according to Spotify. President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected the idea of banning "narcocorridos," preferring to launch a music competition "for peace and against addictions" to counter the influence of drug culture among young people. Two months ago, the United States revoked the visas of the band Los Alegres del Barranco for showing images of a wanted drug lord during a concert. "I'm a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn't mean that expression should be free of consequences," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said at the time. "The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists." At the end of May, members of Grupo Firme canceled a concert in the United States, saying their visas were under "administrative review" by the U..S embassy. Musicians in Mexico sometimes get caught up in cartel violence themselves. Last month, the bodies of five Mexican musicians from the band Grupo Fugitivo, were found in Reynosa along the Texas border. At least nine alleged cartel members were arrested and later drugs and weapons were seized in connection to the murders. In January this year, a small plane was reported to have dropped pamphlets on a northwestern city threatening around 20 music artists and influencers for alleged dealings with a warring faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel. In 2018, armed men kidnapped two members of the musical group "Los Norteños de Río Bravo," whose bodies were later found on the federal highway connecting Reynosa to Río Bravo, Tamaulipas. In 2013, 17 musicians from the group Kombo Kolombia were executed by alleged cartel members in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon, allegedly because of links to a rival gang.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
5 police officers dead after being "attacked and ambushed" in Mexico; patrol vehicle set on fire
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Five police officers died Monday after they were ambushed by an armed group in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, local officials said. The attack happened in the town of Frontera Comalapa, where the Chiapas state police officers were on patrol when they were ambushed. "Members of the state police were attacked and ambushed," the governor of Chiapas, Eduardo Ramirez, said on social media. Ramirez identified the slain officers as Guillermo Cortés Morales, Jesús Sánchez Pérez, Joel Martínez Pérez, Brenda Lizbeth Toalá Blanco and Pedro Hernández Hernánde. The local Security Secretariat said it had deployed more than 1,000 officers to "attend to the situation and guarantee security in the area." Five police officers died Monday after they were ambushed by an armed group in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, local officials said. Chiapas State Governor Eduardo Ramirez The agency also shared an image of the slain officers' charred patrol vehicle after it was completely engulfed in flames on a roadway. Later, the agency announced on social media they had arrested a man in connection to the murders. Authorities said the suspect was hiding in the weeds about half a mile from the crime scene, carrying an AK-47 rifle and a backpack with military uniforms. Officials did not immediately give information about other possible suspects. In recent months, Chiapas has been shaken by a bloody turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel — the country's two most powerful criminal organizations. Chiapas has been described by the InSight Crime think tank as "a major smuggling hub of both drugs and migrants." In December, authorities said they recovered more than 30 bodies from pits in Chiapas.
CBS News
02-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Fire kills 12 people who were reportedly locked up inside drug rehab center in Mexico
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico A fire in a drug rehabilitation center in the violence-plagued Mexican state of Guanajuato killed 12 people and injured at least three others, authorities said Sunday. The fire broke out early Sunday in the town of San Jose Iturbe, where the municipal government said it was still investigating what caused the deadly blaze. "We express our solidarity with the families of those who have been killed while they tried to overcome addictions," the municipal government said in a statement, adding that it will help to pay for the funeral expenses of those killed. Experts were gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to establish "the reasons for the tragic incident," the Guanajuato state prosecutor's office said. Mexican media outlets reported that the victims of the fire had been locked up inside the rehab center. A woman lits candles at the rehabilitation center where 12 people died due to a fire in San Jose Iturbide community, Guanajuato state, Mexico on June 1, 2025. MARIO ARMAS/AFP via Getty Images Mexico's privately run drug rehabilitation centers are often abusive, clandestine, unregulated and underfunded. They have been the targets of similar attacks in the past. The industrial and agricultural state of Guanajuato has for years been the scene of a bloody turf battle between the Jalisco New Generation cartel and a local gang, the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. Guanajuato has the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico. Just last month, investigators found 17 bodies during a search for missing persons in an abandoned house in Guanajuato. Days before that, seven people, including children, were gunned down in the same region. Mexican drug gangs have killed suspected street-level dealers from rival gangs sheltering at rehab facilities in the past. Officials also believe cartels sometimes execute patients who refuse to join their ranks. In April, gunmen shot up a drug rehab clinic in the troubled Sinaloa state, killing at least nine people. In July 2022, six people were shot dead at a drug rehab center near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara. Two years before that, heavily armed men stormed a drug rehab center in the central city of Irapuato and killed 27 people. In 2010, 19 people were killed in an attack on a rehab center in Chihuahua, a city in northern Mexico. More than a dozen other attacks on such facilities occurred in the decade between those massacres. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
CBS News
29-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
6 soldiers killed, 2 wounded by bomb explosion in Mexico cartel bastion
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico An explosive device killed six soldiers and wounded two others in a western Mexican region wracked by drug cartel violence, an official military report seen by AFP on Wednesday said. The blast late Tuesday near a town in Michoacan state destroyed the armored vehicle in which the troops were traveling, according to the internal document. Military planes and helicopters were deployed to help the casualties, it said. President Claudia Sheinbaum described the deaths as "deplorable" and expressed solidarity with the victims. Warring criminals in the region have a history of planting improvised landmines and attacking security forces with explosive-laden drones. Several soldiers have been killed in similar explosions in the past. Criminal violence, most of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed around 480,000 lives in Mexico since 2006 and left more than 120,000 people missing. U.S. President Donald Trump has designated six Mexican drug trafficking groups terrorist organizations, fueling speculation that he might order military strikes against them. Michoacan, where the deadly bombing took place, has been plagued by violence as a turf war rages between the influential Jalisco New Generation drug cartel and local criminal groups. Last month, gunmen seized cargo trucks and set them on fire on a highway connecting Mexico City to Guadalajara, before police reported at least 18 similar cases in the neighboring states of Michoacan and Guanajuato. A Michoacan police source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attacks were a reaction by Jalisco New Generation to a military operation in the area. Last August, Michoacan's chief prosecutor confirmed that gunmen linked to drug cartels shot to death seven members of the community police force in the town of Coahuayana. The influence of cartels has also infiltrated communities in the area. In December, a sign in a town in Michoacan was posted thanking a cartel leader — who has a $15 million bounty on his head in the U.S. — for holiday season presents for children. The message at a Christmas fair thanked Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera — better known by his nickname "El Mencho" — for the gifts.
