Drug cartel violence flares in western Mexico

(2 Jul 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL++ ASSOCIATED PRESS Apatzingán , Mexico - 02 July 2023 1. Various of crashed car 2. Members of a forensic team working at crime scene 3. Member of the municipal police 4. Various of crime scene 5. Various of crashed car 6. Rear view mirror with blood stains +++GRAPHIC IMAGES+++ 7. Various of forensic experts removing body from car 8. Relatives of victim watching from afar 9. Forensic team working at crime scene STORYLINE: The drug cartel violence that citizen self-defense leader Hipólito Mora gave his life fighting flared anew on Sunday, just one day after he was buried, as shootings and road blockades hit the city of Apatzingán, a regional hub in Mexico’s hot lands. Gunmen carjacked a family, took their auto at gun point and used it to shoot another driver to death just a few blocks away. The victim’s car was left dangling from a bridge as he lay dead inside, slumped onto the passenger's side seat. A friend of the man said he worked at a car dealership and had gone on a pizza run for a family get together a few moments before he died. The friend blamed the Jalisco cartel for the killing, despite the fact that Apatzingán has long been dominated by the rival Viagras cartel. The Jalisco cartel, from the neighboring state of the same name, has been fighting a years-long offensive to enter Michoacán. The front lines in the battles now lie along the ill-named Rio Grande, a small river that runs about 15 miles (23 kms) south of Apatzingán. Residents of Las Bateas, a small riverside village, had to flee their homes about a month ago after raging gunbattles between the Jalisco cartel and the Viagras broke out in the fields outside the homes. The Mexican government sent in army and National Guard reinforcements, part of an unspoken, years-long policy of keeping Jalisco from advancing, while tolerating the Viagras. AP video by Fernanda Pesce. =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected]. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...