What You Need to Know:
Kristel García Hurtado, Police Commissioner for Pátzcuaro Regional Police Station as well as Erongarícuaro, Huiramba, Lagunillas, Ario, Quiroga, Salvador Escalante, Tacámbaro, and Tzintzuntzan Municipalities, was decapitated on the night of March 18th, alongside two of her bodyguards, by armed assailants.
The trio were traveling near the town of San Juan Tumbio when the armed offenders attacked. After the trio were murdered, the vehicle they were traveling in was set alight.
#BMnoticias ? La comisaria regional de la Guardia Civil en Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Kristel García Hurtado, y dos de sus escoltas fueron ASESINADOS ? en una emboscada armada en la carretera libre Pátzcuaro-Uruapan, cerca de San Juan Tumbio. #Elecciones2024 pic.twitter.com/bpHrn0Ie7p
— BM NOTICIAS (@bmnoticiasmx) March 18, 2024
Currently, the attackers are unknown, but are likely to be linked to either the relatively defunct Knights Templar Cartel (a splinter group of the once notorious La Familia Michoa?an), the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), or the United Cartel (Cárteles Unidos), whose main rival is the CJNG.
Hurtado had been in her role for around a year, with the killing of government officials, particularly those unfriendly to cartel leadership, not uncommon in the region.
The Government of Michoacán said in a statement on X, “We strongly condemn the cowardly murder of our fellow Civil Guards, who, in the performance of police duty, were cruelly attacked. We collaborate so that the @FiscaliaMich [Attorney General’s Office] carries out the necessary actions to find those responsible promptly.”
