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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A joint force consisting of Mexican Naval Infantry troops and police agents with the Veracruz state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP) raided two locations in Xalapa, Veracruz early Saturday morning, detaining nine suspects and killing one, according to a news relase posted on the website of the Secretaria de Marina (SEMAR), the controlling agency for the Mexican Navy.
According to the news release the group raided a hotel and subsequently a safe house located on Calle Cesar Velarde. The release said one armed suspect died at the encounter at the safe house.
A news report posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila said that a Mexican Marine unit came under small arms fire near the hotel as the joint patrol attempted to stop a group of armed suspects. The report also said that hand grenades were used in the counterfire by the armed suspects.
The El Diario de Coahuila report also said that the fighting spread throughout the city ending at the safe house.
At the safe house were recovered weapons and vehicles, but the news release did not detail any quantities. A total of nine detainees were taken into custody in the aftermath of the raids. El Diario de Coahuila reported six of the detainees were from Guatemala.
The raid was conducted by a joint force as part of the Seguro Veracruz, a security program which is intended to concentrated federal and state forces at transportation choke points to make the cost of contraband such as drugs guns and migrants much higher. Similar operations are under way in Tamaulipas state and in the La Laguna region which is astride the borders of Coahuila and Durango states.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com