The Mexican government launched an offensive this Thursday against at least twelve drug cartels operating in the western state of Michoacán, where the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, and the leader of citrus growers, Bernardo Bravo, were killed last month. The offensive was outlined during a meeting at the XXI Military Zone, based in the city of Morelia, which was attended by Secretary of Security Omar García Harfuch; Secretary of National Defense, Ricardo Trevilla; Secretary of the Navy, Raymundo Pedro Morales; commander of the National Guard, Hernán Cortés; and the governor of Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla. At the meeting, Raúl Zepeda Villaseñor, Secretary of Government of Michoacán, confirmed that the offensive against organized crime will focus on a dozen cartels, although it could be expanded if other criminal groups are identified. The governor has already commented on it, more than twelve groups have been identified,» Zepeda Villaseñor specified. According to criminal maps developed by the Army, the Attorney General's Office of the Republic (FGR) and the State Attorney General's Office (FGE), at least twelve criminal organizations operate in Michoacán. These criminal groups call themselves the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Tepalcatepec Cartel, Los Blancos de Troya, Los Viagras, Reyes Cartel, Caballeros Templarios, Acahuato Cartel, Costa Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, Zicuirán Cartel, Pueblos Unidos, and Correa Cartel. The operational force of the National Guard and the Army in Michoacán is 10,506 agents, who were mainly deployed in the municipalities of Uruapan and Apatzingán, considered «high priority» areas by national security agencies. These elements are joined by 1,781 Navy agents, who are in charge of operations in the Pacific Ocean and in the coastal municipalities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Aquila, and Coahuayana. This deployment is a response to social discontent over the murder of Carlos Manzo, the independent mayor of Uruapan, who was killed the night of November 1st by a 17-year-old teenager. The mayor was shot seven times with a 9mm pistol in the main square of Uruapan during a Day of the Dead celebration. This case adds to the murder of Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, president of the Citrus Growers Association of the Apatzingán Valley (ACVA), who was killed on October 19th by César Sepúlveda Arellano, alias 'El Botox', leader of the Los Blancos de Troya cartel, according to the state prosecutor's office. In Michoacán, there are 40,000 hectares of lemon orchards that supply the national market through 52 packing companies that process the citrus and send it to other parts of the country.
