Mexico’s Violence Uproots 4,000 People, With Six Arrested For Carrying Unlicensed Firearms

Six persons carrying unlicensed firearms were captured in Mexico’s crime-ridden southern Chiapas state on Sunday, prosecutors said, following days of violence that displaced over 4,000 people.

Over the weekend, Mexican media reported that numerous armed men had descended on Tila, shooting and burning down homes and businesses.

The Chiapas prosecutor’s office announced on Saturday that officials had rescued 4,187 people who were hiding in their homes following acts of violence and relocated them to shelters.

According to the report, two individuals were killed, including a youngster, and at least 17 homes and businesses were burned down. More than 20 automobiles were either destroyed or vandalized.

The prosecutor’s office reported late Sunday that six people carrying unauthorized firearms were apprehended in the neighborhood.

Fighting between Mexico’s two main criminal gangs, the Jalisco New Generation and the Sinaloa cartels, has heightened violence in Chiapas state.

Mexico has recorded over 450,000 homicides since 2006, when the government sent the military to combat drug trafficking, with the majority of them blamed on criminal gangs.

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