NNA – A commando of armed men abducted 14 state police officers in southern Mexico on Tuesday, prompting a heavy deployment of federal and local forces, authorities said.
The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection in Chiapas state said in a statement the 14 officers were all men and an air and ground operation was underway to locate them.nbsp;
An official with the state police force, who asked not to be quoted because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the agents were traveling to the capital of Chiapas in a personnel transport truck when they were intercepted by several trucks with gunmen.
The women in the vehicle were released while the men were taken away, the official said.
The abduction occurred on the highway between Ocozocoautla and Tuxtla Gutieacute;rrez.
Violence in the Mexican border region with Guatemala has escalated in recent months amid a territorial dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel – which has dominated the area – and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.nbsp;
During a tour of Chiapas on Friday, President Andreacute;s Manuel Loacute;pez Obrador minimized the violence in the area, saying that ldquo;in general there is peace, there is tranquilityrdquo; in the state.
The day before the presidentrsquo;s visit, an official with the Attorney Generalrsquo;s Office was attacked with bullets in Tuxtla Gutieacute;rrez, which caused the death of her companion. The official was seriously injured and was hospitalized.
In addition, on June 19, a confrontation between the military and presumed members of organized crime left an element of the National Guard and a civilian dead in Ocozocoautla, near where Tuesdayrsquo;s kidnapping occurred. — AP
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