From the tableada to which Rolando Castillo, 47, originally from Sinaloa, and Juan José Villalobos, 22, from El Pescadero, were subjected to during the Chile and Strawberry Festival in the community of El Pescadero, municipality of La Paz, parties in rural areas are seen differently.
In the events recorded on May 1, Rolando suffered a possible skull fracture and his partner a knee and femur fracture.
According to information provided by the units that attended the event, witnesses reported a pitched brawl between workers from the El Botones and El Peinado agricultural fields, when suddenly at least three trucks loaded with armed men arrived: two pick-up vehicles White Cheyenne, recent model; and a gray Tacoma pick-up vehicle, “full of people in the cargo box and cabin, with approximately 40 people,” says the Approved Police Report.
“These descend, they were carrying large-caliber weapons, not even the Police have them, the only two colleagues from the Comercial who were there, they do not carry weapons, they see the subjects and withdraw; what these people did was, according to what the people said, teach them a lesson, threatened they took them to the back of where the town dance was being held, they hit them with sticks and baseball bats, two were seriously injured, “he reported. one of the municipal agents who came in support from Todos Santos.
The officers were stunned by the presence of the armed commando. They even “outnumbered us by a great number”, so they requested reinforcements.
After receiving the report of armed people, police from Todos Santos, El Carrizal, Pescadero, San Antonio, San Pedro, and the capital itself were mobilized; however, when the agents arrived, the armed men had already left at around 11:30 p.m.
Navy in charge of investigating the presence of organized crime in ranches and agricultural areas
The report entered at 10:55 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, and since that event, the situation has changed for rural communities. The insecurity was not only felt but was evidenced in front of hundreds of people and the event had to be canceled due to the incident.
“They alert us with concern to the presence of a certain Omar, who is affecting Los Barriles, San Antonio, Pescadero, Todos Santos; It all started from Pescadero, where trucks with heavily armed people arrived, that has had an impact on our State and has already reached other spheres,” said a Criminal Investigation agent from the State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE).
Although the officers reported the event as a fight between people who were enjoying the festival, trying to hide the presence of armed people, the incident reached the National Palace by another means.
Two days after the beating that occurred at the festival, on May 3, armed men were present to look for some of the victims at the Rancho Silvestre in El Pescadero, where the criminals deprived Jorge Guadalupe “N” of his freedom and their father, took them to a place and brutally beat them.
Abandoned with serious injuries, they asked for help and their transfer to the Port of Pichilingue to leave BCS due to death threats, but in the terminal, Jorge Guadalupe fainted and vomited blood, which caught the attention of Navy agents at the checkpoint. port secondary.
By helping them, the elements collected the declaration of the injured, took photographs, and prepared a detailed report that was sent directly to the National Security Table at the hands of the Secretary of the Navy, José Rafael Ojeda Durán, and presented to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. .
Those affected were presented in a photographic series with the injuries they suffered, hit with boards, bats and the side of a machete, as well as injuries to the back, legs, and chest; those who sustained serious head and leg injuries were hospitalized.
“What is happening to us as a State is very worrying, such small communities are being the most affected, and we are not just talking about public services, there are too many complaints from the inhabitants due to the interference of criminals, we advise them to go and file their corresponding complaint, since the authority does not consider damage if there is no complaint, despite what they say, ‘If the river sounds, it is because it carries water,’” said a member of the La Paz Bar Association.
The response was immediate because, after the withdrawal of agricultural investments from the El Pescadero area, they gave the order to dismiss the Secretary of State Public Security, Captain Javier López García, who arrived in September together with Governor Víctor Castro Cosío.
A little over nine months in office, he was separated and replaced by Luis Alfredo Cancino Vicente, who is a Marine Infantry Ship Captain and held the position of State Police commissioner.
SAN ANTONIO BCS
“State authorities have been instructed to work on an Intelligence action plan to reduce insecurity in these areas, particularly to shield rural communities; The staff is being restructured so that they can cover the routes and reinforce those areas”, explained a source from the PGJE.
Los Barriles, Los Planes, El Pescadero, Todos Santos and now San Antonio are targeted by drug traffickers. Inhabitants sent an email to this newsroom to tell their version of what welcomes its inhabitants and that delegates are aware, but their hands are tied out of fear.
The complaint of the families of San Antonio reports the collection of fees for the sale of alcohol, cockfights and activities at festivals. The information has already been delivered to the town delegate, Paola Manríquez.
“As soon as the town’s traditional festivities became known, a group of strangers showed up, asking who would be in charge of selling beer, and thus obtain a percentage of what was going to be sold. It was even decided not to charge at the dance, since traditionally a symbolic charge is made to the couples on the court to take out the cost of the group, since they did not want to do it to avoid that ( floor charge ) ”, refers the complaint of inhabitants .
Fortunately, the traditional festivities of San Antonio changed venues due to an outbreak of COVID-19 and the party was moved to the Malecón de La Paz.
The inhabitants are worried, they have little security, and they are at the mercy of criminals; they hope the government can provide them with protection.
“In Los Planes they are already charging for cockfights, here (San Antonio) for the sale of beer, in Pescadero what the whole town already knows, Los Barriles the same, also in the town of Las Casitas; About the cockfight tournaments, no one can bring beer from outside, they must drink there, and if they catch them from somewhere else, they beat them, “said the complainant.
To an express question to the Governor of the State regarding how the security strategy is in the rural area, Víctor Castro Cosío replied that there are no problems, that the rural area is respected.
The traditional festivities of El Pescadero evidenced the control of drug traffickers in the rural area
“The issue with us is that it increases us by the rate of 100,000 inhabitants. It does not justify that we do not have daily analysis of the Security Tables, there is an entire operating system, the decision on security in rural areas has worked a lot due to cattle rustling, cattle are still being stolen, but the complaint is much less. We are doing well, in the rural area there is not so much incidence of theft, there is attention, the delegates and sub-delegates are very attentive to report anything, and there is a tradition in Baja California Sur, in the rural area it is more respected, ”said the president. .
In its 2019 and 2020 reports, the National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Security (ENVIPE) 2021 reveals the growth of the rate per 100,000 inhabitants of almost 4 points in the victimization rate; in 2019, of the inhabitants aged 18 and over in rural areas, 10.3 were victims of crime, and for the following year, the figure rose to 14.2.
In the Mexico Peace Index (IPM), by the Institute for Economy and Peace (IEP), they prepared a report on the economic impact per person due to crime, dating from 2021 and revealing that in BCS citizens are economically affected by 38 thousand 300 pesos a year, to each person.
OCTOGENARY PROFESSOR MURDERED
On May 30, Professor José Edmundo Patrón Espinoza, 80, was reported missing by his granddaughter. On social networks, he reported that the older adult went to an ATM to withdraw his pension and that he was last seen in the Mercado Madero.
Almost a day passed since the report, and at noon on May 31, the professor was found dead inside the room marked number 30 of the Hotel San Carlos, in the heart of the Central Zone of La Paz.
“The victim was located lying on the ground, wrapped in a sheet, face down, his face seemed to be bruised and the preliminary report speaks of possible death due to a cranioencephalic fracture; It is very likely that they planned to rob him and beat him, but they overdid it, ”revealed a Public Security agent.
The hotel located on Calle 16 de Septiembre and Revolución was approached by Security and Investigation agents, who immediately collected data on the incident, asking the manager if he had seen anything strange, since they reported the finding of the person who in the first reports was dressed the same clothes as the disappeared, until it was confirmed.
“When inspecting the place, we were able to verify that there are surveillance cameras in nearby premises, in addition to cameras in the hotel that point to room number 30, he is seen next to a young-looking person, all the video surveillance tapes were loaded on hard drives for analysis and search for the suspect(s), “added the Security agent.
The information received is that the person accompanying the victim was young and tall, it is very likely that he had been assaulted, his body was in a pool of blood, and presumably badly beaten.
Governor Víctor Castro Cosío presumed that in May the incidence of intentional homicide was zero, however, the media corrected him about the murder of the 80-year-old professor, which he ultimately rectified.
“A teacher died, but today’s report I don’t know how he died, if it was due to a heart attack or has signs of violence, I don’t have the report, if so, there will be one, because it was on May 31, I hope not, he was wanted by his family, he entered a hotel, I do not have the detailed report, “he said.
According to PGJE reports, among the main crimes that have been registered in La Paz so far in 2022, 30% have taken place in the central zone or Colonia Centro, being the one with the highest criminal incidence.
Source: zetatijuana.com
