CELAYA, MEXICO – Eleven people were killed, with five others injured, after a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a hotel and an adjoining bar in Celaya on the evening of May 23rd, with the suspects also using bombs that destroyed the facades of the two businesses.

Local reports suggest the massacre could be linked to various cartel activities in the area.

The attack occurred at approximately 10:00 p.m., lasting roughly a minute in length. An estimated 15 gunmen entered the Gala Hotel and the adjoining bar, firing in excess of 50 rounds. Before the gunmen left the scene, they dispersed “homemade bombs” that caused extensive damage to hotel and bar.

Two men and two women were killed inside of the hotel, whereas one man and five other women were killed inside of the bar. The eleventh victim, identified only as a female, died after being transported to an area hospital. Local authorities have not revealed a potential motive in the case, but reports suggest that cartel activity could be linked to the massacre.

Not far from where the attack transpired in Celaya, on the morning of May 23rd, local authorities discovered a number of plastic bags that were said to have contained the dismembered bodies of three unidentified individuals. Atop the plastic bags that held these human remains was a piece of cardboard with a threatening note reportedly from an unnamed cartel.

Apparently, the area is embroiled in a territorial dispute between two cartels.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel had previously held the territory in the area, but the grasp around Celaya began to wither after the arrest of the cartel’s leader, José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, also known as “El Marro,” back in August of 2020.

Following El Marro’s arrest nearly two years earlier, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation had reportedly decided to claim the territory in Celaya, with violence having been an ongoing issue in Celaya since the Jalisco Cartel New Generation rolled into town.

The fact that violence has erupted in the area since the Jalisco Cartel New Generation showed up in Celaya is hardly surprising, as the cartel is said to be one of the most notoriously dangerous outfits within Mexico. The group over the years formed as a result of older cartels experiencing power vacuums, causing factions like the Sinaloa, Milenio, Torcidos and numerous other cartels to form into one violent powerhouse.

In the past decade, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation were reportedly responsible for numerous massacres that claimed the lives of scores of people – including rival cartel members, police officers, judges, and their families.

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The U.S. State Department currently has a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Nemesio Ruben Oseguera-Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation.

This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on May 24, 2022. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

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