It was a violent payday yesterday in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca.

In two separate incidents thieves stole more than 10 million pesos (about US $530,000) in the towns of Matías Romero and Santo Domingo Tehuantepec and left two security guards dead.

In the first case, civilians carrying rifles and wearing balaclavas entered the Matías Romero municipal offices, threatened staff and made off with an undetermined amount of cash that was intended to cover employees’ paychecks.

In Santo Domingo, 10 people attacked four security guards as they were supplying a downtown  bank machine with at least 9.2 million pesos (close to US $487,000) in cash.

The guards were transporting the bags of cash from an armored vehicle when the thieves attacked, killing two of the guards before fleeing with the loot.

Source: El Imparcial (sp), Milenio (sp)