Federal and state authorities have taken control of the city of Taxco, including apprehending 58 employees of municipal security agencies after the weekend disappearance of 10 youths who were detained by local officers.
National Guard and army troops descended upon the city famed for its silver jewelry production before dawn on Wednesday with four arrest warrants issued by the Guerrero Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
While state police secured the perimeter and an army helicopter hovered overhead, federal officers swarmed police headquarters, joined by special anti-kidnapping agents. The invading forces took control of Taxco’s municipal command and control center (known as a C2) while rounding up agents from the municipal police force, the city transit authority and the Civil Protection Agency.
During the operation, one kidnap victim was rescued though it is not clear if the subject was one of the 10 youths who went missing over the weekend.
The FGE issued a press bulletin on Thursday afternoon confirming that 10 suspects are being held on kidnapping charges, including three of the four local police officials for whom the original warrants were issued.
Among those apprehended were six members of Taxco police chief Christopher Hernández’s private security detail. It is not clear if Hernández, supposedly known by the nickname “The Shadow,” is among those in custody. Many Mexican media outlets reported that he was among those arrested, but FGE statements made no mention of his arrest. According to the newspaper El Sur, Hernández could be the target of the fourth arrest warrant.
El Sur reported that Hernández has been accused of having links to the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana.
The 10th suspect — a Taxco police official — was arrested in the nearby town of Cacalotenango.
The 58 people detained — 48 of whom are officially labeled persons of interest — were hauled away in police vans and were being held in the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the state capital of Chilpancingo, according to El Sur.
Taxco Mayor Mario Figueroa revealed the police action in a press bulletin he issued just before midnight Wednesday. In the communique, Figueroa claimed that the agents did not identify themselves, that neither he nor the municipal authorities were advised of the operation, nor were they told what prompted it.
News reports indicate that the operation was conducted under secrecy because of numerous citizen complaints about the apprehension of 10 local youths, whose whereabouts are unknown after they were detained by municipal agents late Saturday night.
State police initially responded to the citizen complaints, carrying out a small operation near police headquarters overnight Sunday and into Monday morning. There were reports then that one of the missing youths had been shot while trying to escape.
Taxco has been victimized by a wave of violent crime in recent years, with more than 70 cases investigated since Mayor Figueroa took office in 2021. Figueroa himself was the target of an assassination attempt in February. He was unhurt.
The municipality, one of Mexico’s 177 Pueblos Mágicos, or Magical Towns, was also the subject of a security alert issued by the U.S. government in January of this year after public transport workers were attacked by crime gangs vying for control of the city.
With reports from Reforma, El Sol de Acapulco, Aristegui Noticias and El Sur
