HomeNewsBriefMexican Vigilantes Take Town, Seize Police Chief After Murder
BRIEF

Mexican Vigilantes Take Town, Seize Police Chief After Murder

MEXICO / 27 MAR 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Over a thousand vigilantes in southwest Mexico took control of a town and detained a local police chief and 12 police officers following the murder of one of the group's leaders, as tensions grow between "community police" and Mexico's security forces.

Members of the regional vigilante umbrella group, Union of People and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG), descended on the municipality of Juan R. Escudero after the murder of one of their local commanders, Guadalupe Quiñones Carbajal, reported Animal Politico.

The self-proclaimed "community police" set up road blocks and raided houses in search of the people responsible for the killing. Within a day, they had detained the head of the local municipal police, Oscar Ulises Valle, 12 of his police officers and six civilians, along with drugs, weapons and vehicles allegedly belonging to the suspects.

The self-defense group accused those captured of organizing the murder after Quiñones had accused several local officials to the prosecutor's office for their alleged links to organized crime. 

The vigilantes later turned the suspects over to prosecutors after receiving assurances they would look into the allegations about the killing and Quiñones' accusations, reported El Universal.

InSight Crime Analysis

As InSight Crime has noted previously, one of the main challenges of the proliferation of self-defense groups in Mexico will be their relationship to the state security forces.

The rise of vigilante groups is a direct consequence of corrupt and ineffectual policing, which has helped organized crime tighten its grip on certain parts of the country. As the self-defense forces look to fill this gap, they are likely to come into direct confrontation with the security forces, as has also happened in Michoacan.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

AYOTZINAPA / 6 OCT 2022

Mexico's army is being given more public security responsibilities, despite its human rights abuses.

MEXICO / 7 DEC 2021

A daring prison break in central Mexico was focused on freeing the leader of a relatively modest oil theft group,…

FEATURED / 16 MAR 2023

The Northeast Cartel has established almost complete dominance of criminal economies in Mexico's border city of Nuevo Laredo.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…