The investigation by authorities in Mexico into the murder of a deputy police chief in the state of Guanajuato. The gunmen ambushed the top official in the streets as raging cartel violence and terror attacks continued to plague the state.

This week, a group of cartel gunmen shot and killed Jesus Alejandro Camacho Escobar,41, the deputy chief of police in the city of Guanajuato located in the state with the same name. According to initial reports, Camacho was driving a police vehicle along the highway that leads to the city of Puentecillas when a group of gunmen in a black pickup cut him off and attacked him ambush style. The gunmen managed to escape.

Guanajuato’s Mayor Alejandro Navarro took to social media to post an emotional message announcing Camacho’s murder calling it a cowardly attack against a dear friend. The politician claimed that he had met Camacho almost three decades prior when they were university students.

The killing comes at a time when Guanajuato continues to see a high level of cartel violence including kidnappings, murders, shootouts, and even terror-style attacks against innocent victims.  As Breitbart Texas has reported, the violence in the region is tied to a turf war between Cartel Jalisco New Generation and the remnants of the Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima over control of the fuel theft market and the local distribution of drugs. The violence includes several incidents where gunmen in Guanajuato stormed bars only to indiscriminately shoot at patrons.

According to the NGO Causa Comun, Guanajuato is the deadliest state for police officers with 19 cops and two soldiers killed so far this year.

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.