This Was The First Attack Of The CJNG On The Guatemalan Army.

Mica for cartelinsider.com

The violence generated by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in southern Mexico may have reached the border with Guatemala, where an armed confrontation was reported against the country’s military.

Since September 2023, the 43rd Police Station of the National Civil Police (PNC) in the municipality of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, had warned of the possible emergence of the criminal organization led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as ‘El Mencho’.

Four months after said alert was issued, members of the “four letter cartel” allegedly carried out an armed attack against Guatemalan soldiers, as confirmed by authorities of the country to Milenio on January 16th.

Information about what happened is scarce, as Mexican and Guatemalan authorities have not released an official report on the matter. Preliminary reports suggest that the events took place last week, specifically on January 8th, at the border point of San Marcos.

At the border point that connects Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas (in Mexico) with Tecún Umán, San Marcos (in Guatemala), soldiers from the Central American country were performing security tasks. During these actions, they observed a convoy of pickup trucks manned by armed individuals who attempted to cross the border.

When the armed group realized the presence of Guatemalan forces, they began to open fire, which would have sparked a gun exchange. No injured or fatal victims were reported on either side.

“Directly, we hadn’t had (an armed attack) until the week of January 8th, in which an armed group crossed the border and attacked a military unit,” stated Alex Manolo Tuyuc, Commander of the Mountain Operations Brigade of the Guatemalan Army, to the previously mentioned media outlet.

After the events, the detention of two individuals of Mexican nationality was reported. Likewise, a firearm and a truck were seized.

The identity of the detainees was not revealed, but the sources also stated that both of them attempted to bribe the soldiers with 50,000 pesos in exchange for their freedom.

This is not the first time that Guatemala has warned about the incursion of the CJNG on its border. The PNC has indicated that this criminal organization has attempted to invade strategic areas such as Nentón, Santa Ana Huista, Mesilla y Democracia, Umán, Malacatán, San Marcos, and Tacana.

The reason: “power struggle and control of territory (plazas),” reads a statement from the Government of Guatemala dated September 25, 2023, titled “Alert for possible entry of members of Mexican cartels into Guatemalan territory.”

Due to the above, in November of that year, over 2,000 members of the Guatemalan Army were deployed to the border with Mexico to prevent the arrival of the CJNG, which maintains a bloody dispute with the Sinaloa Cartel in the southern part of the country.

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Mica

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