MEXICO CITY
(AP) -- About 40 people were killed Friday in what authorities described
as a large-scale shootout between law enforcement and criminal suspects
in western Mexico.
Almost all the dead were
suspected criminals, said a Federal Police official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with
journalists.
There were few details of the
reported gunbattle, but video obtained by The Associated Press showed
federal police coming under fire and bodies strewn throughout a ranch. A
local police official in the neighboring town Puerto de Vargas said the
location is called Rancho del Sol. The official wouldn't give his full
name to the AP but said his department received a report of the
confrontation from fellow police in the neighboring town Ecuandureo and
was told to keep everyone calm.
With dozens dead, it was the most violent confrontation between authorities and alleged drug traffickers in recent memory.
The
confrontation started when federal police officers tried to pull over
truck on the highway near the ranch, and as they got close people inside
the truck opened fire, Michoacan Gov. Salvador Jara told Radio Formula.
According
to an account of events circulated among federal police units, the
first report of the confrontation came in at about 8 a.m. Friday. The
government dispatched special forces and a Black Hawk helicopter as
reinforcements.
The confrontation occurred
near the border of Michoacan and Jalisco states, an area known as being
dominated by the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which has mounted
several large-scale attacks on federal and state forces in recent weeks.
While
there was no immediate confirmation on the identity of the suspects,
Jara told Milenio television that "it was most likely" the Jalisco
cartel was involved.
The scene of the shootout
is close to the community of La Barca, a Jalisco town where authorities
in 2013 found more than five dozen bodies in mass graves linked to the
Jalisco cartel. According to the federal police account, which was not
immediately confirmed by top officials, units confiscated dozens of
high-caliber weapons and a rocket launcher.
In
April, gunmen believed linked to the cartel ambushed a police convoy in
Jalisco, killing 15 state police officers and wounding five. Earlier
this month, the New Generation cartel shot down a military helicopter
with a rocket launcher in Jalisco, killing eight aboard.
The
area, about two hours from the Lake Chapala communities of Canadian and
U.S. expatriates, has also been marked by killings of politicians. In
2014, gunmen killed the mayor of a nearby town, Tanhuato.
