Authorities and politicians in Mexico are questioning a failed operation by agents with the country’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR), where townspeople mistook them for kidnappers. The confusion set off a vigilante mob that torched various vehicles and kidnapped and beat six agents until state authorities were able to restore the peace.
The incident took place this week in the central Mexican State of Hidalgo, in the town of Santa Ana, when a group of FGR agents tried to arrest two women who had pending warrants for fuel theft. Hidalgo’s Governor, Julio Menchaca, claimed in a televised interview that the FGR was reckless in operation and had not coordinated with local or state authorities.
At the time of the arrest, the woman reportedly screamed for help, at which time locals rushed to help, allegedly thinking that it was a kidnapping. The case quickly escalated into a full-blown vigilante mob where locals torched vehicles and abducted the six agents. Local police officers tried to intervene but were also overwhelmed soon by the mob.
Social media videos captured the intensity of the destruction caused by the mob.
Menchaca claimed that it was not until hours later that state authorities received a call for help, and they carried out an operation where they were able to diffuse the vigilantes and rescue the detained agents. Three of the agents required medical care afterwards.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart News Foundation traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas, including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “L.P. Contreras ” from Mexico City and Williams Cortez from Baja California.”
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