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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| 3 Die in Western Durango Raid | |
| 2011-02-26 | |
| For a map, click here. For a map of Durango click here A raid by an armed group of men in the village of Benito Juarez in far western Durango has left three dead, five houses destroyed by fire and an amount of property damage, including livestock and vehicles, according to Mexican news accounts.
Three unidentified residents of the village were killed in the attack, although the death toll is unofficial. Reports say armed suspects aboard luxury vehicles with darkened windows, presumably SUVs, routinely made rounds through the streets of the village without stopping in the last few months, inspiring terror in the residents. The terror was so acute that resident reportedly did not go outside their homes after 2200 hrs. It was reported this evening that several unidentified members of the Mennonite community were under extortion threats, presumably by the same criminal group that raided Benito Juarez Thursday morning. Currently, a detachment of the Mexican 10th Military Zone is in the area for additional security. Several municipalities in western Durango, which border Sinaloa to the west, are known drug crop areas, and have suffered similar raids or intergang shootouts. Those areas include the Otaez municipality and the El Mezquital municipality. Some of the areas are so remote it takes as many as 12 hours to reach help. The Sierra Madres in eastern Sinaloa and western Durango are also known to be locations for drug labs used by the Sinaloa drug gang to process methamphetamine. To read Rantburg reports on the raids and shootouts in western Durango, click here and follow the links. | |
| Posted by:badanov |
