A contingent of Mexican army Special Forces soldiers have been deployed to the state of Chihuahua as part of anti-crime efforts following a recent mass killing during a horse race in Parral.
A deployment of 90 members of a Special Forces group landed on Nov. 23 at the Chihuahua City airport on a Boeing 727 military transport plane that arrived from a Mexico City airbase, Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense said via a social media post.
The troops will reinforcement law enforcement and military forces already present in “carrying out deterrence, prevention and patrol tasks” in the state, the national defense department stated.
Chihuahua State Public Safety Secretary Gilberto Loya said at his weekly news conference on Nov. 24 that he was grateful for the military’s assistance and that state police work closely with the Mexican army and National Guard.
“Chihuahua will not give a millimeter to crime,” Loya said, adding that the deployment was because of an excellent relationship between Chihuahua Gov. Maria Eugenia “Maru” Campos and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Mass killing at horse race in Parral, Chihuahua
The arrival of additional troops follows a drug-cartel related shooting that killed seven men and wounded several others on the Saturday afternoon of Nov. 15 during horse races at the Santa Teresa racetrack in Parral, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office said.
An eighth man was found fatally shot at another location the following morning.
The massacre was reportedly carried out by gunmen with La Linea (Juárez cartel) crime organization targeting members of Los Salgueiro faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Proceso news magazine reported.
Parral is located more than 130 miles south of Chihuahua City in the state’s southern edge near the border with the state of Durango.
Rocket launcher, weapons seized in Juárez
Mexican soldiers and National Guard troops continue working alongside police in Juárez as part of “Operación Frontera Norte” (Operation Northern Border), which Mexico began in February during tariff talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Recent developments in Juárez, according to Mexico’s defense department and Chihuahua state police, included:
∎ The seizure of a rocket launcher and two handguns during the arrest on one person along with the seizure of 6,200 fentanyl pills, five pounds of methamphetamine, a tactical vest, a vehicle and a building, authorities reported.
∎ State police in coordination with the National Guard rescued 17 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico who were being detained by smugglers at a house in the southeastern edge of Juárez on Nov. 18, Loya said at the Nov. 24 news conference.
Police found the migrants after responding to an emergency call reporting armed persons. One of the armed suspects was seeing entering a home where the migrants were being held in the Senderos de San Isidro area. Two men, a woman and two juveniles were arrested. Three handguns, two rifles and more than $1,200 in U.S. dollars were seized, Loya said.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Mexican army Special Forces sent to Chihuahua after horse race massacre
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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