Mexican Army soldiers arrested a group of Colombian mercenaries believed to be behind a landmine attack that killed eight soldiers in western Mexico.
In a series of raids in the state of Michoacan, Mexican military forces arrested 12 Colombian nationals and five Mexicans who were part of a cell of cartel gunmen operating in the region. The gunmen are believed to be linked to the Carteles Unidos faction of the Familia Michoacana, which had been fighting against the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). Both cartels have been designated as foreign terror groups by the U.S. Department of State.
The raid took place in a rural area near the Los Reyes municipality, an area that rival criminal organizations have long fought over as a prime drug trafficking area into Mexico, as well as a drug production area with large-scale labs hidden in rural areas.
The raids came just days after, as Breitbart Texas reported, six soldiers died and two others sustained critical injuries after driving their armored vehicle over a landmine. The two injured soldiers died just days later.
Following the fatal explosion, military forces carried out a series of intelligence operations, leading them to the compound where they arrested the 17 gunmen.
At the time of the arrests, military forces seized various weapons as well as explosive devices, gunpowder, and what appear to be plastic explosives similar to the one commonly known as C-4.
The presence of the Colombian gunmen follows a trend that has long been reported by Breitbart Texas, where drug cartels have been recruiting gunmen from terrorist organizations such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from Colombia and other guerrilla groups to train them in tactics and the use of explosives.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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