A confrontation that lasted three hours between Mexican federal forces and members from a drug cartel resulted in 43 deaths, including 42 cartel members and 1 federal police officer. Three cartel members were placed under arrest, according to officials, CNN reports.
The incident took place in the town of Tanhuato, Michoacan, when a joint task force of federal and state security forces, during an investigation, confronted the cartel members, according to Alejandro Rubido, Mexican National Security Commissioner. "A pursuit began that lead to the ranch," Rubido said, "the rest of the criminals inside the ranch started to attack the federal forces with intensity".
Rubido said that the joint task force, with the help of back-up, in the form of a helicopter, executed the gang members. He said the shootout continued throughout the ranch, which he described as a 275-acre stretch of land with a main residence, a warehouse, and agricultural buildings, and went on for nearly three hours. The commissioner also mentioned that the officer who was killed in the shootout, was attending to a fellow officer who had been injured, according to The Guardian.
Reuters reported that government authorities belive the gunmen belonged to the Jalisco New Generation (JNG) cartel, one of the most recent and fastest-growing drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and has been known for blatantly challenging state authorities.
In one of the many attacks the cartel has carried out on security forces, armed gunmen ambushed a police convoy along a mountain road in Jalisco killing dozens of police officers in April. No casualties were reported among the cartel members. After the attacks, authorities decided to initiate a major federal offensive against the JNG cartel on May 1.
