Six men have been arrested in Jalisco for their alleged involvement in at least two violent attacks against security forces in 2015.

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia said the men were apprehended by Federal Police on Tuesday without firing a single shot on a ranch in San Martín de Zula in the municipality of Ocotlán.

The ranch had been identified as a center of operations of a group of alleged murderers and drug smugglers tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

“This group could well be part of the inner circle of the cartel’s leader,” said Sales of the six arrested men.

One of them used to be a municipal police officer in Zapotlanejo and had an outstanding arrest warrant for homicide.

Authorities suspect that the six were involved in several violent events in Jalisco state, including the March 2015 ambush of a Gendarmerie deployment in Ocotlán, in which five police were killed.

Two months after, the men were allegedly involved in the shooting down of an army helicopter that killed six soldiers and a Federal Police officer.

Source: Milenio (sp), Informador (sp)