Four police officers and eight suspected gang members died during an operation to rescue kidnapped people in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, authorities said Thursday.
The exchange of fire around a house in the suburbs of Guadalajara, which lasted more than an hour and a half according to witnesses, allowed the release of two men, said prosecutor Luis Mendez Ruiz.
Several people were arrested, including three seriously injured, during the shooting, and weapons and ammunition were seized, said the governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro.
The presence of a powerful cartel
Ten police officers have been killed since the start of the year in the state of Jalisco, one of the most violent in Mexico due to the presence of criminal gangs, including the powerful Jalisco Cartel New Generation, which the authorities hold responsible for numerous homicides and disappearances.
Its leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, is one of the most wanted drug lords in the world, with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) offering $10 million for his arrest.
Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and tens of thousands missing since the December 2006 launch of a military offensive against organized crime.