Police officers and suspected huachicoleros faced gunshots in Hidalgo

Police from San Agustín Tlaxiaca, Hidalgo, and suspected Huachicoleros clashed with firearms in the community of El Huizache during the morning of Monday, March 28, when uniformed personnel were conducting patrols around the town.

The police officers were allegedly assaulted by a group of around 10 people after the securing of a white Chevrolet Express van, which had been reported stolen and presumed to have been abandoned on the spot.

After noticing the attack of the suspected Huachicoleros, who carried long and short weapons, as well as tactical equipment, the uniformed men responded in the same way to the aggressors, who fled on board vehicles. Authorities at all three levels of government implemented a security operation to try to find those responsible for the attack.

The alleged Huachicoleros allegedly assaulted the uniformed men in an attempt to drive them away, as they were on their way to conduct a search of a private home where there were illegal seizures of hydrocarbons.

In the community of Cuautepec, about six kilometers from the place where the confrontation occurred, authorities ensured a clandestine seizure inside a cabin located in a rural area of the town.

The search of the property was carried out under the order of a judge, as investigative police officers had presented evidence of the presence of huachicoleo activities in the place. Authorities secured 2,100 liters of hydrocarbons in the home and hoses that were connected to Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pipelines, for the alleged extraction of hydrocarbons.

Personnel from the Attorney General of the State of Hidalgo (FGE), the ministerial police, experts and members of the Mexican Army participated in the operation that resulted in the seizure of 28 drums of 200 liters each, as well as 500 meters of hoses connecting the building to the hydrocarbon pipelines.

Both the insured goods and hydrocarbons were made available to the Public Prosecutor's Office of the local prosecutor's office as part of the evidence for the investigation folder previously opened for the case. No one was reported to have been arrested for the events.

On March 23, General Luis Crescencio Sandoval, head of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), reported that Hidalgo is the state in which there is the highest amount of fuel theft, an activity known as huachicol.

According to the information presented by the official, in February nine arrests were made for crimes derived from huachicol, in addition to the insuring of 974,331 liters of hydrocarbons and 177 clandestine shots were found, resulting in the securing of three sites and 23 vehicles.

General Crescencio Sandoval highlighted that 3,80 Sedena elements are currently dedicated full-time to combating huachicol, in addition to providing security to nine Petroleos Mexicanos pipelines.

For his part, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that, thanks to actions against Huachicol, around 136 billion pesos have been saved, a greater figure for the aid fund for the elderly.

“By not allowing huachicol we have saved 136,000 million pesos, how much is this? It is more than we appoint to the pension for older adults in a year, which by the way we made the commitment that they will be increased,” said the president.

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