A group of cartel gunmen in Mexico tortured and executed a one-year-old boy and his family after they refused to turn over their avocado farm. The gruesome murder comes as Mexico’s government continues to ignore and downplay the raging cartel violence nationwide.
The incident occurred earlier this week in the town of Los Reyes, Michoacan, a rural community in the western part of the state. That region has seen much violence in recent years as several criminal organizations fight over the control of drug production and trafficking routes into Mexico.
Law enforcement sources consulted by Breitbart Texas revealed that a group of gunmen sent by Luis Enrique “R5 or Guicho de Los Reyes” Chavez Barragan stormed a small farm on the outskirts of the city where they tortured and raped a man and his pregnant wife before shooting them in the head.
The gunmen also tortured and shot the couple’s one-year-old boy in the head. The child clung to his toy car as the gunmen brutally executed him.
The motive for the killing appears to be the family’s refusal to turn over their avocado farm, law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas.
The gunmen are part of Carteles Unidos, a loose alliance of smaller cartels that had joined forces to fight against Cartel Jalisco New Generation. Most of the violence in Michoacan is tied to the ongoing turf war between CJNG and various cells from Carteles Unidos.
By the time authorities arrived at the house, the gunmen had already fled.
The killing is the latest to plague the coastal state of Michoacan, where numerous government officials have been linked to drug cartels. In 2022, Breitbart Texas exclusively reported on how the current state governor Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla is the nephew of Adalberto Fructoso Comparan Rodriguez, the former mayor of Aguililla, Michoacan, and a convicted drug lord serving a ten-year prison sentence on federal drug charges. The governor’s cousin, Adalberto Comparan Bedolla, also serves an 11-year prison sentence in the U.S. on similar charges.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Jose Luis Lara from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report.
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