Story By: Amanda Morales, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Central European News

This alleged cartel gunman has been charged with brutally murdering 27 people in a massacre in a drug rehabilitation centre in Mexico.

The suspect, named by the authorities as Jesus Emmanuel ‘N’, alias ‘El Jordan’, was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the murder of 27 people and the attempted murder of six others at the Recuperando mi Vida” (Getting My Life Back) rehabilitation centre in the municipality of Irapuato in the Mexican state of Guanajuato on 1st July.

According to the local newspaper Infobae, a group of three armed men entered the centre in search of a man named Francisco.

However, when the residents refused to point Francisco out, the armed gang reportedly let the women inside leave before shooting indiscriminately at the men, killing 27 and injuring six.

The State Attorney General’s Office and the Guanajuato State Public Security Forces began a joint investigation that led to the arrest of the accused, amongst others, on 6th July.

The suspect, reportedly a member of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, has been charged with 27 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder and faces up to 60 years in prison if found guilty.

Another two suspects in the massacre are subject to a different investigation and cannot be charged for now.

According to Infobae, the investigation will work to determine if the massacre was the result of a dispute between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, who are fighting for control of drug trafficking and fuel theft in the area.

Speaking to Infobae, Alvar Cabeza de Vaca, Secretary of Security of the state of Guanajuato, said that most rehabilitation centres in the state are not monitored by the authorities.

He said: “It is known, in some cases, that they belong (the rehabilitation centres) to criminal organisations. They go, they commit their crimes and then the place of refuge is the rehabilitation centre itself and that is why the rival group goes there and attacks them.”

The state of Guanajuato has been the state with the highest number of homicides registered in Mexico since 2018, with 13 percent of the 14,631 people who have been killed in the first five months of 2020 in Mexico being from Guanajuato.

The case is ongoing.

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