Police Detain Activist Leader After Gun Battles in Guerrero State

Officers from the Guerrero state police and Mexican military forces disarmed and detained 30 people, including a local activist leader, on January 7, following a series of shootouts in a town near Acapulco.

At least 8 people were killed in La Concepcion, which is located around 15 miles outside of the resort city Acapulco, in armed clashes between residents and a local community security group in the early hours of January 7 following a fiesta, according to local reports.

Three members of the same community police force were killed in a gun battle when state police and military arrived in the town to disarm them, according to a statement from the Secretary of Public Security of Guerrero.

State officials said the community police forces, which included local activist leader Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz, were armed, resisted arrest, and were possession of marijuana.

Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz is the leader of CECOP [Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam], a local activist group comprised mostly of farmers, who oppose the La Parota hydroelectric dam. Credit: Secretaría de Seguridad Pública de Guerrero via Storyful