Mexico: Military forces kill five gang members in Puebla July 24

Event

Puebla state officials announced that at least five suspected gang members were killed during clashes between fuel thieves, known as huachicoleros, and military forces on Monday, July 24. Fighting broke out as security personnel searched a safe house in the town of Esperanza. No injuries were reported by the military.

The gang members are suspected of being affiliated with gang leader Roberto de los Santos de Jesús, also known as “El Bukanas.” On Monday, July 24, the governor of Veracruz state announced a MXN 1,000,000 reward for his capture.

Context

A number of huachicoleros gangs operate in Puebla. The state is the epicenter of stolen fuel sales in Mexico; numerous makeshift gas stations are present off the main highway in the state. The stolen gasoline, siphoned from a major pipeline crossing the state, now costs Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, over MXN 20 billion (USD 1.1 billion) per year in lost revenues. Violent clashes between rival criminal groups occur regularly; Puebla experienced a 7 percent increase in murders in the first three months of 2017 in comparison to the peak of violence in 2011. Much of the fighting takes place in eastern parts of the state, particularly in the towns of Acajete, Tepeaca, Tecamachalco, Palmar de Bravo, Quecholac, and Acatzinco.

On May 30, the Secretary of the Interior announced during a visit to the state of Veracruz that the federal government is committed to fighting huachicoleros in Puebla and Veracruz. On July 2 and 3, at least nine people were killed during clashes between rival gangs involved in fuel theft. During the violence, a police chief was killed and five people previously kidnapped by one of the gangs were found executed in Santo Tomás Chautlá.

Advice

Individuals in Puebla are advised to remain vigilant at all times.

Due to extreme levels of violence linked to the presence of various armed groups, many Western governments advise against travel to a large portion of Mexican territory, including Guerrero, Colima, Sinaloa, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas states and the northeastern border with the United States, as well as to a lesser extent Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, and Sonora states.