An armed group attacked a mobile vaccination unit established to administer COVID-19 vaccines n the municipality of Tangancícuaro, Michoacán. The mobile vaccination unit was guarded by elements of the Defense Secretariat (Sedena) at the time of the attack.
The attack was reported at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, within the borders of the Patamban and Ruíz Cortines communities.
Local authorities said that the unit was going to the Patamban community to vaccinate the elderly when it was attacked by heavily armed civilians aboard six vans.
The officers from Sedena managed to protect the ambulance where the vaccines against COVID-19 were being transferred to combat the pandemic.
In the mobile unit, there was a worker from the Roadrunner Brigade and two health workers, guarded by four National Guard vehicles; none of them were injured.
At the site, the attackers abandoned four vans in which they were traveling and then fled on foot.
Three units from the Ministry of National Defense and one from the National Guard moved to the site to reinforce security efforts in that area.
Authorities arrested one of the attackers and seized assault rifles, vehicles, hundreds of ammunition, and marijuana packages.
"The military personnel continued to provide the security escort service to the Tangancícuaro Vaccination Center, delivering the biologicals at their destination, without any setback," reported the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena).
Local reports indicate that the municipality is in a territorial dispute between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, the Nueva Familia Michoacana and the Los Reyes Cartel. It's not yet known if this attack was orchestrated by any of the area cartels.
Tangancícuaro is located west of Morelia, capital of the state, and 76 kilometers from the border with Jalisco. Michoacán, like most of the country, lives with a reality of daily violence. At this point in the country, the CJNG led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, el Mencho, has extended its tentacles to gain control of organized crime. This was the state where the government of Felipe Calderón unleashed the war against drugs in December 2006.
The region is disputed by remnants of extinct cartels that have changed their name over the years but have not been eradicated from regions such as the coast and border of Jalisco.
