Gunfight between criminal gangs demanding protection money in Mexico, 11 people died

On the afternoon of December 8 (local time), a shootout occurred in the city of Texcaltitlán, Central Mexico, killing 11 people, including 8 members of a criminal gang and 3 civilians.

Local authorities said the shootout broke out after members of the La Familia Michoacana criminal gang failed to reach an agreement on increasing protection money for a group of small businesses in the city of Texcaltitlán, 120 km southwest of Mexico City.

Specifically, according to information from the Texcaltitlán Police, at noon on December 8, members of the La Familia Michoacana gang met with representatives of the local small business community at a stadium and announced that from January 2024, the gang would apply an increase in "business premises protection money." However, representatives of the small business community rejected this request.

Due to the failure to reach an agreement, many arguments broke out, leading to gunfights between the two sides. However, despite being heavily armed, all of the gunmen of the La Familia Michoacana gang died at the scene due to being outnumbered. The merchants also burned two cars belonging to this criminal group.

Police and the National Guard arrived shortly after and cordoned off the scene. Authorities are currently investigating the incident. This is considered one of the deadliest gunfights since the beginning of 2023.

Not only operating in "traditional" areas such as cocaine trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution and money laundering, Mexican criminal gangs have in recent years expanded their scope of operations to many other areas, the most prominent of which is the demand for protection money for business activities.