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Ecoley

Vigilante leader murdered in western Mexico


    Morelia, Mexico, Jul 6 (EFE).- A leader of one of the vigilante groups in the western Mexican state of Michoacan was murdered over the weekend by gunmen suspected of being on the payroll of a drug cartel, state officials said.

    Camilo Santana was one of the leaders of the community self-defense group that operates in Huetamo, a city on the border with Guerrero state, the Michoacan Public Safety Secretariat said.

    Santana was gunned down around 10:00 p.m. Saturday by two men armed with assault rifles, the secretariat said.

    The gunmen opened fire on the vigilante commander at a bar on the highway that links Huetamo to the city of Churumuco.

    Santana's two bodyguards and Huetamo police chief Felix Gomez Rio were wounded in the attack.

    The unidentified gunmen jumped into a waiting car after the shooting and were driven away by a third individual.

    Investigators are trying to learn the motive for the meeting between Santana and the police chief, who eyewitnesses said were drinking heavily before the gunmen arrived at the bar.

    The first vigilante group was formed in Michoacan on Feb. 24, 2013, to fight the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.