The widespread, almost simultaneous raids, which federal officials dubbed “Operation Swarm,” occurred in two State of Mexico rural communities west of Mexico City and in two populated suburbs immediately on the outskirts of the nation’s capital.
The seven detained officials, according to the federal Public Safety Department, “were linked to criminal groups” and were charged with “crimes like extortion, kidnapping, and homicide.” Whether formal charges had been brought against them yet remained unclear.
According to state prosecutors, the police chief of Texcaltitlan, a rural municipality, committed himself with his own firearm while troops, Marines, and the National Guard surrounded the area in an attempt to apprehend him on unidentified accusations.
At a plantation, an employee displays avocados dangling from a tree.
