Men purporting to be members of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) have released a video denouncing the February 27 Tonala, Jalisco attack in which 11 were killed, 10 of whom were construction workers.
In the video, which bears no CJNG insignia or the group’s markings, seven alleged CJNG members armed and dress in black stand in a white room. The spokesperson accuses the Jalisco Attorney General of attempting to botch the investigation by suggesting that the victims were caught in a crossfire. They then accuse individuals known as “El Loco,” “El Primo,” or “El Marino” of orchestrating the attack.
The attack left eleven people dead, and two others were injured in La Jauja neighborhood in Tonala, Jalisco on February 27. Ten of the victims were construction workers who were awaiting payment when they were gunned down on the sidewalk in Emiliano Zapata street. Another individual was found dead inside the home where the attack took place, and two more were injured, including a child under the age of five and a woman.
According to witnesses, the attackers arrived aboard a black Ford Explorer and two other vehicles when they opened fire. The three cars fled towards the University of Tonalá. Authorities reported that over 70 shell casings were found on the scene and added that a motive for the attack is not yet known.
Jalisco recorded the third-highest number of homicides in February 2021, with 220. Since January 2020, the state registered 2,495 murders, according to the daily reports from the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).