The once peaceful central Mexican state of Guanajuato is now the region with the highest number of police officers murdered this year. The rising death toll of police officers comes at a time when one of the country’s most violent drug cartels is making a push for control of the region.

Since the start of 2019, Guanajuato witnessed a total of 58 murdered police officers, Mexico’s Milenio reported, quoting a series of stats form the State Attorney General’s Office. As Breitbart Texas reported, on Tuesday, a group of gunmen from Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion stormed the police headquarters in the city of Villagran in a brazen attack. The gunmen killed three police officers and kidnapped three others. The gunmen also kidnapped a local judge.

On Wednesday morning, authorities in Irapuato, the capital Guanajuato, found the dismembered remains of a policewoman, Mexico’s El Sol del Bajio reported. The woman, since identified as Sonia Arellano Fonseca, had been kidnapped days before along with her husband and child. Authorities had managed to rescue the husband and child.

For at least two years, the once peaceful state of Guanajuato has experienced an unprecedented security crisis where rival drug cartels fought not just for narcotic production areas or routes, but for the control of lucrative underground fuel theft operations. As Breitbart Texas reported, the fuel theft in that area was once controlled by a criminal organization that has taken the name Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima and has managed to stay in power due to widespread help from corrupt government officials. That power has since been challenged by Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion — one of the country’s most violent drug cartels.

As Breitbart Texas reported, part of their strategy by CJNG deals with hunting down police officers in and around Guanajuato. The group claims law enforcement officials have been protecting the leader of Santa Rosa de Lima, Jose Antonio “El Marro” Yepez Ortiz, who has been the target of several raids by Mexico’s federal and state government. The group’s leader has always managed to avoid apprehension.

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.