Background on the Incident
Two traffic police officers were gunned down in Jalisco after they attempted to inspect a vehicle, local authorities reported on Tuesday.
The bodies of Libna Mata Villegas, 40, and Gisela Ceballos Quezada, 28, from the Jalisco Traffic Police Corps were found in the bed of a police truck with gunshot wounds to their heads, according to the state Fiscalía.
Details of the Incident
According to initial investigations, Officers Mata Villegas and Ceballos Quezada were conducting patrols in the El Salto municipality when they stopped a vehicle with tinted windows.
Men from another car then arrived at the scene, overpowered the officers, forced them into the police truck, and took them to the location where their bodies were discovered.
Salvador González, the state fiscal, detailed the sequence of events: “The assailants subdued the officers, placed them in the police truck, and transported them to where they were found lifeless.”
Reactions and Context
The Secretaría de Seguridad de Jalisco issued a statement on social media condemning the “cowardly attack”.
El Salto, where the incident took place, is part of Guadalajara’s metropolitan area and will host four matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Jalisco, home to the powerful Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), has the highest number of missing persons in Mexico, with over 15,900 cases out of a total of 127,000 nationwide. Most of these cases have accumulated since December 2006, when the federal government launched an anti-drug operation involving the military.
Key Questions and Answers
- Who were the victims? The victims were traffic police officers Libna Mata Villegas, 40, and Gisela Ceballos Quezada, 28.
- What happened during the incident? The officers stopped a vehicle with tinted windows in El Salto. Men from another car then overpowered the officers, forced them into a police truck, and took them to another location where their bodies were found.
- What reactions have there been to the incident? The Secretaría de Seguridad de Jalisco condemned the “cowardly attack” via social media.
- What is the context of this incident? El Salto will host World Cup matches in 2026. Jalisco has the highest number of missing persons cases in Mexico, with over 15,900 out of a total of 127,000 nationwide, many of which have accumulated since a federal anti-drug operation involving the military began in December 2006.
