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Camp with explosives and homemade bombs found in Mexico's Tierra Caliente region
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico /Crime & Justice

Camp with explosives and homemade bombs found in Mexico's Tierra Caliente region

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Residents of El Pescado community in Guerrero, Mexico, discovered a criminal camp containing homemade bombs and explosive materials.
  • The camp, allegedly belonging to La Familia Michoacana, was used to manufacture devices, including those with sulfuric acid, for attacks on the community.
  • Military forces reportedly destroyed the explosives, but residents are denouncing the incident to highlight the cartel's capabilities and demand official attention.

Residents of the El Pescado community in Guerrero's Tierra Caliente region have reported the discovery of a criminal camp laden with explosives, allegedly operated by the La Familia Michoacana cartel. The camp, located in the sierra of Coyuca de Catalรกn, was found to contain approximately 120 homemade bombs, 140 kilograms of gunpowder, and materials for their assembly, including glue cartridges and gallons of sulfuric acid.

Javier Hernรกndez Peรฑaloza, secretary of the Ejido of Guajes de Ayala, which includes El Pescado, stated that the camp was discovered on August 4. He explained that the bombs found were similar to those used in a drone attack on the community a month prior. Hernรกndez Peรฑaloza expressed grave concern over the use of sulfuric acid, describing it as a potent poison capable of causing severe internal hemorrhaging and potentially fatal lung collapse if inhaled or ingested.

The site also featured trenches of various sizes, suggesting it could have housed up to 150 individuals. Military personnel reportedly visited the location about five days prior to destroy the discovered explosives, though this action was not publicly announced. Residents are speaking out to ensure authorities recognize the scale of La Familia Michoacana's operational capacity and to prevent their concerns from being dismissed.

This discovery follows a July 8 incident where El Pescado residents reported attacks involving gunfire and drones attributed to La Familia Michoacana. Videos circulated on social media showed women, children, and the elderly seeking refuge and appealing for help from federal and state governments to halt the ongoing violence perpetrated by the criminal group in their community.

I want to think that the sulfuric acid we found along with all this material, its magnitude or lethality is totally brutal, totally poison; that is, if it spreads in particles in the atmosphere, in the environment, it is totally poison. Once it makes contact with the throat or nasal passages it causes internal bleeding, same in the lungs until they collapse and cause death.

โ€” Javier Hernรกndez PeรฑalozaThe Ejido secretary described the dangerous properties of sulfuric acid found at the camp.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.