• MAYHEM: A failed law enforcement attempt to capture the alleged top boss of the so-called Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in the central state of Guanajuato left the industrial city of Celaya in a state of panic as unknown gunmen set up at least 14 road blocks by setting on fire hijacked vehicles.
• OPERATION: According to a police source, federal and state forces were unable Tuesday to arrest Antonio Yépez, aka “El Marro”, the alleged leader of a criminal cartel that has fuel-theft as one of its core activities and who authorities believe is partly behind a violent wave in Guanajuato.
• CHAOS: As the day progressed, panic erupted throughout the Celaya metropolitan area (pop. 850,000) when groups of unidentified gunmen highjacked freight trucks only to set them on fire along with using tire-puncturing spikes as a way to impede the police operation against “El Marro”.
• ATTEMPT: A year ago, “El Marro” was able to evade a previous operation by the Mexican Navy and state police around the Villagrán municipality near Celaya. In February, a judge freed the alleged leader’s after declaring her arrest illegal. Last week, authorities arrested his father-in-law.
