• MURDERS: At least 24 people died in the industrial city of Irapuato (pop. 574,000) after gunmen opened fire against a clandestine rehab center, according to authorities. This is latest incident of violence in Mexico’s central state of Guanajuato which has been engulfed in a gang war since 2018.
• CLANDESTINE: Guanajuato state authorities estimated in June that 265 alleged rehab centers operated in the Irapuato area but only 30 of them were properly registered. Security experts believe some of the centers are actually recruitment places managed by criminal organizations or cartels.
• DECOMPRESSION: “They have done it before: committing a high-impact attack in areas controlled by the Jalisco (New Generation) Cartel to take pressure away from cities like Celaya”, said security consultant David Saucedo who argued the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel could be behind the attack.
• ATTACKS: Wednesday’s reported mass murder was the fourth recent attack targeting clandestine rehab centers in Irapuato including the June 6th killing of 10 people and the December kidnapping of 25 people. Early this year, the US Embassy in Mexico warned agains traveling to the area.
