A speeding ticket turned into a rather worse infraction for a driver in Hidalgo on Friday when he was identified as a regional leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The man, identified by the authorities by his first names, Francisco Javier, was traveling between the towns of Tulancingo and Tejocotal when he was stopped for speeding.
Police discovered he had an outstanding arrest warrant for homicide in the state of Guanajuato and was a priority target for officials in that state.
The suspect, also known as “H1,” has been linked to kidnapping, drug trafficking and extortion among other criminal activities and identified as the CJNG leader in southern Guanajuato.
Police described his behavior on Friday as “strange and aggressive” and said he could not produce identification. They said he offered the officers a bribe to allow him to continue on his way before becoming violent, at which point he was arrested.
Guanajuato and Veracruz led in homicide numbers in September, according to a tally kept buy the newspaper Milenio. In the former, a territorial feud over drug trafficking and petroleum theft between the CJNG and the Santa Rosa de Lima gang is blamed for the violence.
There were 251 assassinations in each state during September.
One of those was the murder yesterday of a hotel owner in San Miguel de Allende. Businessman Isaías Gómez was shot five times by a man on a motorcycle, and died at the scene.
Gómez officially opened a new hotel called Tierra y Plata in the city yesterday, as well as a restaurant called Miguelina.
Source: Periódico Correo (sp), Milenio (sp)
CORRECTION: The story has been edited to correct a geographical error. Hidalgo and Guanajuato are not neighboring states, as previously reported.
