Gunmen shot to death five men and one woman at a privately-run drug rehabilitation center in Guadalajara, authorities said Monday.
The prosecutor’s office in the western state of Jalisco said the attack occurred around midnight in Tlaquepaque, a suburb of the state capital, Guadalajara.
“The criminal news was made known via the emergency number at approximately 2308 hours, for which the Municipal Police went to verify the report in which the presence of several armed persons was indicated at said point, where a rehabilitation center is located.”, indicated the prosecutor’s bulletin.
First responders and paramedics from Municipal Medical Services found the bodies of four men and one woman lying at the crime scene. The fifth victim was a man who died after he was taken for medical attention.
“The deceased female ranges between 18 and 23 years of age, while two of the males appear to be approximately 61 and 56 years old, while the other three are between 20 and 30 years of age,” the prosecution detailed.
The office said that several people were involved in the attack, but did not offer information on a motive.
The Jalisco prosecutor’s office, one of the most violent states in the country and where the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) operates, announced an operation to search for those responsible. Jalisco is one of the six states that concentrate half of the intentional homicides that occur in the country.
Drug gangs in Mexico have attacked rehab centers in the past, usually to kill drug users or dealers allied with rival gangs. In 2020, in the neighboring state of Guanajuato, gunmen killed 27 people at a rehab center.
Mexico has long had problems with rehab centers because most are privately run, underfunded, and often commit abuses against recovering addicts. The government spends relatively little money on rehabilitation, often making the unregistered centers the only option available for poor families.
In addition, addicts and dealers who face attacks from rivals on the streets sometimes take refuge at the rehab clinics, making the clinics themselves targets for attack.
