Former Colombian soldiers were involved in ’the explosion of a narco-mine' between the states of Michoacán and Jalisco, authorities say.
Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, speaks during a press conference at the offices of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection in Mexico City
The head of Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, said a pattern of organized crime to recruit former Colombian military personnel has been detected in Mexico.
Harfuch said on June 10 that on May 29, Mexican Army personnel detained 17 people in the municipality of Los Reyes, Michoacán. Five were Mexicans and 12 were Colombian nationals—nine former soldiers and three civilians with military training in the use of weapons.
Harfuch said the detained former Colombian soldiers were involved in “the explosion of a narco-mine” on the border between the states of Michoacán and Jalisco that killed eight members of the Mexican Army on May 28.
“A pattern of recruitment of this type of profile by criminal groups in our country has been detected,” said the head of the SSPC during the daily press conference at the National Palace.
“We are already in communication and coordination with the Colombian authorities to prevent these recruitment activities from continuing.”
Authorities at the site also seized seven replica long guns, magazines, cartridges, 41 explosive devices, a box of explosives, a bucket of black powder, 13 ballistic plates, two ballistic helmets, a tactical vest, and four vehicles.
The secretary added that the Colombians arrested entered through the Mexico City airport.
He added that “in coordination with the Colombian authorities, 69 people have been returned to their country.”
Harfuch said the Navy Secretariat conducted immigration interviews at the airport, after which the Colombian citizens were denied entry into the country.
“Some of them mentioned in the [immigration] interviews that they had been recruited by a criminal group, and they were rejected on the spot,” he said.
After learning of the May 28 incident, the Colombian Foreign Ministry said on June 4 that a consular mission in Mexico had verified the identities of those detained.
“As a result, it was determined that 11 of the 12 names presented by the Mexican prosecutor’s office correspond to Colombian citizens who, according to records, had been associated with the Colombian Armed Forces in the past,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The Colombian State has activated diplomatic channels to closely monitor the case.”
In its statement, the Foreign Ministry lamented the death of the Mexican soldiers and said the vast majority of Colombians “should not be associated with criminal networks,” adding that they travel to Mexico for academic, work, or tourism purposes.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry also warned “about the growing phenomenon of the co-opting of personnel with military training to join criminal structures involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling between the two countries.”
The Colombian government reiterated its condemnation “of all forms of organized violence that affect the security and stability of the region.”
