The governor of the Mexican state of Michoacan is calling for a military and police response to the slaying of 13 police officers and injury of nine others in an ambush there this week.
Gov. Silvano Aureoles, in a wake for the officers on Tuesday, said criminals would only understand an assertive response to the attack, which authorities believe may have been carried out by members of the violent Jalisco New Generation cartel.
“Michoacán is on its feet. We will not submit,” Aureoles told a crowd of mourners. “We will rise to the occasion, and we will answer the way these cowardly murderers deserve.”
State police officers had gone to a home in the rural Aguililla municipality to enforce a judicial order on Monday when they were surrounded by gunfire, Michoacan’s public safety department said in a statement. Images published in Mexican media showed police vehicles engulfed in flames, and messages apparently signed by Jalisco New Generation.
Michoacan, a largely agricultural state on Mexico's Pacific coast, has been a focal point in Mexico's 13-year war against drug cartels. The state has long been known for its avocados that are exported to the U.S. as well as for the production of marijuana and manufacturing of methamphetamine.