16 suspected members of Los Ardillos group detained in Mexico
In the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, 16 people whom authorities link to the criminal group Los Ardillos were detained. The operation was carried out after the mutilated body of National Guard serviceman Eduardo Bustos, who was off duty at the time, was found along the Mexico City—Acapulco highway. Mexico News Daily reports.
Operation in Acapulco municipality
The Guerrero State Attorney General's Office said the detentions took place on September 5 as part of a coordinated operation involving the army, National Guard and state police. Mexico's Ministry of Defense subsequently confirmed the detentions in the localities of Pablo Galeana, Río Verde and Xaltianguis in the municipality of Acapulco.
According to authorities, those detained include a person described as a “financial operator” for Los Ardillos. The Ministry of Defense also confirmed Bustos' death and said it was cooperating with civilian authorities in the investigation, including to establish the circumstances surrounding his statements in the video.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
According to the publication, Bustos was likely forced to record a video before his murder. In it, he claimed that state security personnel, two of whom he named, receive up to 600,000 pesos per month from the Los Tlacos group for putting pressure on their rivals from Los Ardillos. These claims are not established facts.
Clandestine laboratories
Separately, federal forces discovered and dismantled three clandestine laboratories in Guerrero that, according to officials, were used to produce methamphetamine. Two of them were located in the municipality of Czirándaro de los Chávez, and another in Coahuayutla de José María Izazaga.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the facilities were located in hard-to-reach mountainous terrain. Security forces seized more than 260 200-liter barrels, 11 500-liter containers, nine reactors, more than 60 gas cylinders, 150 bags of caustic soda, 663 kilograms of ammonium chloride, about 2.4 tonnes of chemicals and approximately one tonne of chemical precursors. They also seized 12 firearms, more than 36,700 rounds of ammunition, 17 doses of methamphetamine, 10 slot machines, two motorcycles and a car.
