Gunmen hijacked two trucks hauling more than 7 million rounds of ammunition in central Mexico, a massive heist that could escalate fighting in one of the country’s most violent areas.
The armed group intercepted the trucks on June 9 in the municipality of San Luis de la Paz, in the central state of Guanajuato, according to press reports. The drivers and security personnel were unharmed in the robbery. The trucks were found later, with their two trailers emptied of bullets.
The stolen ammunition was for 14 different types of guns and had an estimated value of $2.7 million, according to media estimates. While most of the ammunition was for small firearms, such as .22- and .40-caliber pistols, a significant portion of the bullets were for high-powered weapons, including AR-15 and M-16 rifles.
The trucks carrying the ammunition had departed from a factory in Cuernavaca and were bound for Texas, El Universal reported, citing Mexico’s National Defense Secretariat (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional – SEDENA).
San Luis de la Paz, the town where the robbery took place, has been embroiled in a bloody war, as has most of Guanajuato, between Mexico’s most powerful criminal group, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.
In 2019, the governor of Guanajuato also claimed that the Gulf Cartel (Clan del Golfo), a powerful criminal syndicate based in northern Mexico, was present in San Luis de la Paz.
None of these actors has so far claimed responsibility for the robbery.
Source: Business Insider
