Gunfight Between Police and Gang in Mexico Leaves at Least 45 Dead

At least three officers, 42 others killed in battle with alleged members of Jalisco New Generation drug cartel

By Dudley Althaus And Santiago Pérez, WSJ
Updated May 22, 2015 5:48 p.m. ET

MEXICO CITY—A gunbattle between federal police and alleged members of a criminal gang on Friday killed at least three officers and 42 other people in Mexico’s troubled Michoacán state, government officials said.

Gunmen ambushed a police convoy about 10 a.m., local time, as it traveled a rural highway in Tanhuato, a sparsely populated municipality near Lake Chapala, which is a resort area in the Western part of the country popular with U.S. and other foreign retirees, a senior official confirmed.

“Federal forces repelled the aggression,” the official said.

Michoacán state Governor Salvador Jara told Mexican TV station Milenio that the gunmen appeared to be members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, a rising narcotics gang that has clashed repeatedly with federal forces in recent weeks, killing dozens security officers.

Members of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s security cabinet are traveling to the area to assess the incident, the officials said. The death toll is based on preliminary estimates and could change, they added. Gov. Jara declined to provide additional information.

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