San Miguel Totolapan massacre
Part of Mexican drug war
LocationSan Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero, Mexico
DateOctober 5, 2022
2pm - ~2:15 pm
Deaths20 killed
PerpetratorLos Tequileros cartel

On October 5, 2022, gunmen allegedly associated with the Los Tequileros cartel killed over 20 people, including the town mayor Conrado Mendoza Almeda, in San Miguel Totolapan, Mexico.

Prelude

The Los Tequileros cartel was founded in the town of San Antonio La Gavia, in San Miguel Totolapan municipality, by Raybel Jacobo de Almonte after a falling out with leadership of the La Familia Michoacana cartel in 2016.[1] The group originally conducted kidnappings and torture of municipal leaders and mayors of the towns, with Juan Mendoza Acosta, the then-mayor of San Miguel Totolapan, expressing support for the group after being threatened.[1] While local law enforcement and leaders were pressured into allying with Los Tequileros, most civilians of San Miguel Totolapan were against the cartel.[2] In 2016, a small uprising began in the town after disgruntled civilians abducted seventeen alleged Tequileros supporters, including de Almonte (El Tequilero)'s mother.[2] The uprising ended peacefully, although the city council was vacant afterward.[2] In 2018, El Tequilero was shot dead in a battle with police along with twelve other cartel members, and Mexican authorities believed with his death came the dissolution of Los Tequileros.[3][1]

Shortly before the attack in San Miguel Totolapan, several members of Los Tequileros released a video on social media claiming to reform and continue fighting against LFM.[4] They also claimed responsibility for the death of the municipality's director of Rural Development, who was presumed to have died in a car accident on October 3.[5]

Massacre

At around 2pm on October 5, several groups of armed people appeared in the streets of San Miguel Totolapan. Access to the town was blocked by trucks.[5][6] The armed men were wearing ski masks, and both attacks were conducted using two SUVs.[7] The first attack occurred at a private home a block away from the town hall, where mayor Conrado Mendoza Almeda was hosting a meeting with municipal leaders.[5] Everyone present was assassinated, including Mendoza Almeda, his father and former mayor Juan Mendoza Acosta; Fredi Martinez Suazo, the director of Public Security; Roberto Mata Marcial, advisor to the mayor; Genesis Araujo Marcos, administrator of Sanitation; Samuel Garcia and Jose Antolin Calvo Caballero, both escorts to the mayor, and three other residents of the house, including a US citizen.[5]

The second attack, carried out in tandem to the first, occurred at the town hall.[4] Seven police officers and one passersby were killed, and shots were reported in other houses and parts of the town afterward.[8] A survivor of the attack claimed it lasted only 10 to 15 minutes total.[9]

Aftermath

The governor of Guerrero, where San Miguel Totolapan is located, stated on Twitter that "There will be no impunity for the malicious aggression against the municipal president and local government officials."[10] Survivors of the massacre claimed it was the deadliest event in the town in twenty years.[9] Twenty people were killed in total, and there were so many victims a backhoe was rented to bury all of them.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Who are the Los Tequileros gangsters?". Mexicanist. October 11, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 McDonnell, Patrick (December 17, 2016). "In one small Mexican town, the citizens become armed vigilantes to take on a drug gang". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  3. ↑ Noel, Andrea (March 5, 2017). "He Livestreamed About the Cartels—Until He Was Shot Dead". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Mexico mayor assassinated in town hall massacre". BBC News. October 6, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Paso a paso de la masacre en San Miguel Totolapan que dejó 18 personas asesinadas". infobae (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  6. ↑ "México: asesinan a un alcalde y a 19 personas más en un doble tiroteo en el estado de Guerrero". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Gunmen in ski masks kill 20 people, including mayor, in southern Mexico massacre". The Independent. October 6, 2022. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Son 20 personas asesinadas en Totolapan, Guerrero: SSPC; vinculan a "Los Tequileros" con la masacre". El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Garcia, Karol Suárez and Franyeli. "City hall massacre: Local Mexican leaders risk lives to stay in office in cartel territory". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  10. ↑ Evelyn Salgado Pineda [@EvelynSalgadoP] (October 6, 2022). "Lamento profundamente el sensible fallecimiento del alcalde de San Miguel Totolapan, Conrado Mendoza Almeda..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ "Drug gang kills 20 in attack on city hall in southern Mexico". AP NEWS. October 6, 2022. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.


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