More than half a thousand state and military police carried out an operation to dismantle an alleged network dedicated to extortion, which was led by the secretary and the director of Municipal Traffic and Transportation of the Villaflores City Council, and the director of the municipal police of Villacorzo, both neighboring municipalities located in the central area of Chiapas.
In total, 78 people were arrested during the operations in Villaflores and Villacorzo, including municipal officials, police officers, and civilians. Additionally, operations have also been carried out in Comitán and Frontera Comalapa against criminal cells embedded in the city councils.
Elite police from the state government, investigation units from the State Attorney General's Office, the National Guard, and the Mexican Army participated. Among those detained are the municipal secretary of Villaflores and the director of Traffic in the same municipality.
According to Prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, gas station owners and ranchers, as well as truck drivers, reported both officials, who are accused of leading a gang dedicated to extorting them. According to the complaints, René Madariaga, who served as the municipal secretary of the city council, was the one who summoned them and asked for money resulting from the extortion to be given to María Antonieta N., the leader of the mototaxi operators.
Llaven Abarca stated that in that municipality, 39 municipal police officers were also arrested, who will be investigated. Likewise, in another operation, the director of the police of Villacorzo was arrested; according to the prosecutor, he has a criminal record and had received a sentence; however, he was appointed to the position of director under a different name, José Gregorio Cedeño Coutiño.
In all these regions, organized crime has a strong presence and has subjugated the population.
