By: Gustavo Alberto Nava | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
Around 200 armed civilians entered Chilapa at dawn for about two hours demanding the return of their weapons from the ministerial police.
Around 0:30 hours, they arrived aboard trucks armed with shotguns and rifles, stationing themselves in the vicinity of the plaza. A few meters from where they were, a hotel where a group of the federal police is staying is located as well as the headquarters of the municipal police.
Taxi drivers who work during the night shift and are based on one side of the plaza immediately withdrew upon seeing the arrival of the armed group.
In the morning, it was confirmed that the group of armed civilians came from communities south of the municipality from the same ones that came on May 9-142015, when around 300 armed civilians broke into the municipal capital of Chilapa where they took control of the public security, in search of, according to them, members of a criminal cell who they blame for dozens of disappearances and other crimes.
Neighbors of the municipal capital blame them for being linked to rival criminal group and denounced them for the disappearances of 16 people during their stay in the city.
Authorities and residents of the communities of the south that border the municipalities of Mochitlán and Quechultenango constituted themselves into the Civil Association of Community Members for Peace and Justice.
The demands of the armed civilians-which arrived on Wednesday morning- were for the return of their confiscated weapons, the end of police harassment, and the prohibition of movement outside of their communities by the ministerial police.
The armed civilians left after agreeing to a meeting during the next 48 hours with the heads of state, ministerial, and federal police as well as the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA).
Source: La Plaza Diario