Four Colombians were killed and four others injured when their vehicle traveling towards the US border came under fire from members of a criminal organization in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas, authorities said on Monday.
This attack occurred Sunday morning in Villa de Cos and “four people lost their lives”, according to a press release from the local authorities.
The victims were from Colombia, were part of the same family and two young girls are among the injured, said a source in the office of the prosecutor of this state, who asked not to be identified.
One of the survivors told authorities they were trying to get to the northern border in an attempt to cross into the United States, according to the same source.
According to the authorities, the motive for this attack was to steal their van in which were the Colombians who refused to obey the armed men who ordered them to stop.
In this state, suspected criminals set up checkpoints to compel motorists to stop and steal their vehicles.
The violence in the state of Zacatecas stems in particular from a rivalry between the two most powerful cartels in the country, Jalisco Nueva Generacion and Sinaloa.
Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders and 100,000 missing since the 2006 launch of an offensive against drug traffickers.