Coatepec Harinas: at least 13 agents die after ambush

(Image credit: Foro TV)

(CNN Spanish) -

An ambush attributed to organized crime in Coatepec Harinas ended this Thursday with at least 13 agents killed, reported the Secretary of Public Security of the State of Mexico, Rodrigo Martínez Celis.

"This aggression is an affront against the Mexican state, we will respond with all force and with the support of the law and legitimacy," said Martínez Celis in a video posted on social networks.

The hierarch explained that "so far there is information on the death of eight elements of the Security Secretariat and five elements of the Attorney General's Office."

The authorities have so far not identified which group would be responsible for the attack on the convoy.

He was patrolling the municipality of Coatepec Harinas, about 77 kilometers south of Toluca, explained a previously published joint statement from the Secretary of Public Security of the State of Mexico and the State Attorney's Office.

The Secretariat and the Prosecutor's Office said that with "the support of the National Guard, the Secretariat of National Defense, and the Secretariat of the Navy they are carrying out a joint operation in this area to search for the aggressors."

"The institutions that are part of the Coordination for the Construction of Peace in the State of Mexico condemn this cunning and cowardly attack and make the commitment that it will not go unpunished," the statement added.