Some 300 drivers were robbed and two people were shot on a highway in Querétaro on Friday when armed thieves took advantage of paralyzed traffic.
At least six thieves emerged from the surrounding hills at around 6:20 p.m. on the Mexico City-San Luis Potosí highway near the community of La Solana, 30 kilometers north of Querétaro city.
Two people who resisted the robbers were shot in the arm but were treated by paramedics and didn’t require further treatment. One suspect was arrested.
At least seven of the victims arriving at the nearby toll plaza at Chichimequillas asked to be allowed to pass free because the thieves had left them penniless. Other victims made official complaints at the plaza to state and municipal police.
One victim said the robbers raided every vehicle. “We were ambushed by six people. They were all men, not even 20 years old and they pointed guns at us. They took away cell phones, cash and wallets from everyone, all the cars … I think we were more than 300 cars,” the victim said.
Toll plaza workers said that such robberies have become frequent on the highways and that two people had been killed by robbers in the previous 15 days, the newspaper AM de Querétaro reported.
The newspaper also reported that most of the recent robberies on the highway had been on trucks and trailers.
With reports from El Universal Querétaro , AM de Querétaro and Quatratín
