A nurse identified as Abel Elías was executed by hitmen in the Rosales neighborhood, near the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) General Hospital Zone No. 1 in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
The killing occurred just days after the worker had been detained by federal authorities for stealing highly specialized medications.
The Municipal Secretariat of Public Security and Traffic received a report of a shooting on Río Petatlán Street.
Upon arriving at the scene, police officers found the nurse—a native of the municipality of Guasave—dead; he was still wearing his nursing uniform. Following his recent arrest, the IMSS employee was facing legal proceedings while at liberty, meaning he was presumably continuing his work at the medical facility.
Just three days prior to the execution, the IMSS delegation had confirmed in a statement that, as a result of internal security protocols, an irregularity had been detected, leading to the arrest of a worker inside the Culiacán hospital facility.
The medical institution stated that it was actively cooperating with investigative authorities regarding the case and urged both patients and staff to respect the control measures in place at hospital complexes.
The medical supplies the nurse had attempted to steal illegally consisted of four boxes of Tenecteplase, a highly specialized drug used to treat patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction.
On the legitimate pharmaceutical market, the drug has a commercial value ranging from 90,000 to 120,000 pesos per box—specifically the 50-milligram vial presentation with a diluent syringe—making the theft worth an estimated 480,000 pesos. Judicial authorities are currently conducting an investigation to determine the motive behind the killing.
