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Friday, January 28, 2022

Los Ardillos Blamed for Attack Against UPOEG in Chilpancingo, Guerrero

 “Itzli” for Borderland Beat.


The self-defense group Unión de Pueblos y Organizaciones del Estado de Guerrero blames Los Ardillos for attacks taking place in Chilpancingo, Guerrero on Wednesday.

The Attack

Shortly before 7:00 PM on Wednesday, January 26, 2021, an intense gunfight lasting over 50 minutes started by armed men (some reports claiming to number around 100) against a base of the Guerrero State Union of Towns and Organizations (Unión de Pueblos y Organizaciones del Estado de Guerrero, UPOEG) at their base in Buena Vista de la Salud in the municipality of Chilpancingo, Guerrero.

Upon receiving phone calls reporting the shootout, members of the State Police, Mexican Army, Marines, National Guard, and Attorney General of the State that were stationed together at a Mixed Operations Base (BOM) nearby responded. As they were driving on the México-Acapulco highway they crossed paths with three vehicles of attackers near the town of Acahuizotla. Shots were fired from at least one of the vehicles and State Police officers returned fire, killing two of the perpetrators.

Upon arrival at the UPOEG base, officials found four of their members were killed, including Mario Zamora, former director of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers in Guerrero (Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores de la Educación en Guerrero, CETEG) and three others injured.

Outside the base two abandoned armored truck were found abandoned as well as a pickup truck with a grenade launcher and two AR-15 style rifles inside. The bodies of two of the attackers were found dead nearby and an unspecified number of civilians injured.

Los Ardillos

In a phone interview with La Jornada, Bruno Plácido Valerio, director of the UPOEG, blamed the attack on members of Los Ardillos and blamed the current governor, Evelyn Salgado Pineda, of ignoring their warnings since October that Los Ardillos were pushing to control the valley of El Ocotito. 

Los Ardillos is a small Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) derived group operating in the Central and Montaña regions of Guerrero. They were founded and named after Celso Ortega Rosas, alias “El Ardilla”, who was arrested in 2008 and released after three years, only to be killed by members of Los Rojos a few days thereafter.

Thereafter it has been reported that Los Ardillos operate under the leadership of three of his sons, Jorge Ivan Ortega Jimenez, alias “El Barco”, Celso Ortega Jimenez, alias “La Vela”, and Antonio Ortega Jimenez, alias “La Parota”.

UPOEG

The UPOEG was formed on January 5, 2013 as a self-defense (autodefensa) community police group to protect citizens against cartel activity in the municipalities of Costa Chica, Ayutla de los Libres, Teconoapa San Marcos, Cuautepec, and Cruz Grande in the Costa Chica region of Guerrero. They were involved in the search for the 43 missing Normalistas from Ayotzinapa in 2014 and have since expanded their presence to other parts of Guerrero.

In the fall of 2021 UPOEG was the subject of social media accusations that some of their members, particularly Pedro Santos Cruz, alias “El Pino”, were working for Los Rusos, a little known Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) derived group in Acapulco, which recently signed a message threatening CIDA, as reported by Borderland Beat. Other reports claim that UPOEG members are working for Crescenciano Arreola, alias “El Chano”, another often overlooked cartel leader in Guerrero.

Sources: Ahora Guerrero, Excelsior, adn40, El Universal, La Jornada

Background: La Silla Rota, Noticieros Televisa,  El Tiempo Latino, Trinchera

2 comments:

  1. The squirrels in chilpancingo?? Thought they were main in Acapulco, they must be venturing out. Hot ground for several . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once upon a time I thought I had a good grasp on who's who and where in Guerrero but the moment I saw Ardillas in Guerrero Unidos old stomping ground I knew I needed to work on getting up to speed.

      Delete

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