Monday, June 30, 2025

New military police headquarters opens officially in Guanajuato

A military police brigade will officially start operating in the state of Guanajuato following today’s dedication of a new 450-million-peso (US $23.4-million) headquarters by President Enrique Peña Nieto.

First announced in late 2016, construction of the new facility started last May, financed by the three levels of government and a group of railway companies.

Located in the municipality of Irapuato, the new headquarters has been operational since February. Its contingent of 3,200 personnel are tasked with stopping train robberies and illegal pipeline tapping among other crimes, army officials said.

Both crimes, along with escalating acts of violence, have been on the rise in recent years in the Bajío region state.

The number of intentional homicides has skyrocketed 130% in the first five months of the year compared to all of 2017: there were 436 cases last year but between January and May this year the total shot up to 1,005.

Starting today, the military police will be able to respond to crime reports in any of the 46 municipalities of Guanajuato, and will be in charge of security in the state’s industrial corridor.

They will also be ready to respond to natural disasters, in accordance to the army’s disaster relief DN-III plan.

The new military facility is the creation of Commander Miguel Ángel Patiño, who implemented a similar project in Nuevo León. Operational since 2016 and also manned by 3,200 officials, the Nuevo León brigade oversees security in the state and in neighboring Coahuila, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Multicolored tents in the Zócalo

Street protests in the capital: A timeless feature of life in Mexico

6
The recent tent city that sprang up in the Zócalo is just the latest in a centuries-long and legally protected tradition of protest in Mexico City.
A person touches a light switch during a power outage, while a light bulb remains off in the foreground

No more blackouts in Yucatán? The governor has a plan

2
The state has shared details of the energy supply-and-distribution project that seeks to eliminate blackouts by 2027 and achieve self-sufficiency by 2030.
ship on fire n ocean

Cargo ship carrying 3,000 Chinese cars to Mexico sinks in the Pacific

7
The ship had caught fire June 3, eight days after departing Yantai, China. Of the 3,048 cars aboard, at least 800 were EVs or electric-hybrids.