14 die in La Laguna

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 14 individuals have died or were found dead in the La Laguna region of north central Mexico according to several Mexican news reports.

A news account which appeared on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily said that the 10 of the killings took place between last Friday night and Sunday in the Coahuila side of La Laguna

Saturday night in Matamoros municipality, three unidentified individuals were shot to death near the intersection of calle Niños Héroes and Avenida Cuarta in José Ayup Tedy colony.  One of the victim was reported to be a woman.

According to a news account posted on the website of El Siglo de Torreon news daily, Sunday morning three men identified as lawyers were shot to death at a gathering in  ejido Ana de Torreon in Torreon municipality.  The victims were at a celebration when armed suspects broke into the celebration and started shooting.  The victims were identified as Efrain Parapac Salazar, 32, Leonardo Oviedo Muñoz, 25 and Fernando Rodriguez Garcia, 27.

Going by comments left at the website, the three victims had only recently been awarded their law licenses.

El Diario de Coahuila also reported that two more unidentified victims were found shot to death at a residence in  ejido Ana de Torreon.

According to the report the Coahuila state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE), or attorney general reported finding one unidentified victim shot to death near the intersection of Calle Victoria and Arteria Gregorio Garcia.

Two more victims of violence were found Sunday in Torreon near the intersection of calles Juarez and Alhajas in Valparaiso colony.  The victims had been stabbed to death.

In Gomez Palacio, Durango, the four men found shot to death Friday night were identified as Manuel Rodriguez Salazar, 71, José Enrique Morales Martinez, 52, Juan José Montes Flores, 38 and Evangelina Miramontes Hernandez, 38 .  They were found aboard a Ford Explorer SUV on the road between  Santa Rita and La Union, shot once in the head.  All victims were residents of Torreon, Coahuila.

Separately, according to a news item on the website of El Siglo de Torreon eight suspects were detained for federal crimes in Torreon by a unit of the Torreon Direccion de Seguridad Publica Municipal police corporation.  Two firearms, a kilogram of drugs and a vehicle which had been allegedly carjacked were seized.

The detainees were identified as José Enrique Castillo Esparza, Martin de Jesus Mata Montejano, Andres Delgado Lujan, Fernando Osvaldo Gutierrez Enemegio, Mauricio Triana Ortiz, Cindy Salas Rubio, Yesica Garcia Ornelas and Karla Fabiola Sandate Garcia.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com