The investigation into Sunday’s massacre in Salamanca, Guanajuato, in central Mexico, points to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a regional organization originally dedicated to fuel theft, according to federal government sources. The attack, which left 11 dead and a dozen wounded, half of whom are still hospitalized, stems from this group’s conflict with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). “At least five of the deceased who have been identified belong to a private security company linked to the CJNG,” these sources indicate.
The attack occurred Sunday afternoon at a soccer field in the northern part of Salamanca, home to a Pemex refinery, very close to Irapuato. Salamanca lies along the agricultural-industrial corridor that runs between Irapuato and Celaya. According to testimonies gathered in the local press, two pickup trucks carrying armed men stormed the soccer fields shortly after 5:00 p.m., when dozens of people were present. The gunmen got out of at least one of the vehicles and opened fire on the crowd.
“According to initial investigations, the attack was carried out by a group belonging to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. Lines of investigation point to the involvement of Moisés Soto Bermúdez, who heads the ‘Los Marros’ hit squad,” federal government sources indicate. The name Marros refers to the nickname of the group’s leader and founder, José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, alias Marro, who was arrested in the summer of 2020. Just last December, the United States government announced sanctions against Marro, whom they said continued to run the group from prison.
Government sources indicate that the Los Marros cell operates under the command of Mario Eleazar Lara Belman, alias “Negro,” “Camorro,” and/or “Gallo,” identified as the cell leader, who is involved in drug trafficking, homicides, and extortion in Irapuato, Salamanca, and Celaya. Both Lara and Soto Bermúdez are wanted by the authorities.
Salamanca, like Celaya and Irapuato, has been experiencing a wave of violence for years, fueled by street-level drug dealing, primarily methamphetamine and marijuana, and fuel theft from Pemex pipelines. Since Claudia Sheinbaum took office as president in October 2014, homicides in the state have decreased by 41%, but the violence remains a persistent threat, as illustrated by massacres like the one this past Sunday.
In Salamanca, Sunday’s attack, which occurred in the mid-afternoon, capped a weekend of terror in which at least seven other people were murdered in separate incidents, most of them, unlike this one, in communities south of the city. Both the mayor of Salamanca and local representatives from the city have requested assistance from the state and federal governments to contain the rise of organized crime, which is also responsible for the disappearance of several people in the past month.
