A 22-year-old Mexican-American woman was shot and killed just after midnight on 23 June when her father attempted to evade a cartel checkpoint in the west-central state of Michoacan.
Isabel Ashanti and her friend had just been picked up by her father from a local dance event in the municipality of Zitacuaro, in eastern Michoacan, when they encountered the cartel checkpoint on the Zitacuaro-Aputzio highway, near the town of Silva de Arriba.
The checkpoint was reportedly operated by a criminal gang affiliated with the notoriously violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Spanish abbr: CJNG).
Upon noticing the checkpoint, the father accelerated and attempted to drive past – reportedly out of fear of being attacked.
Cartel gunmen opened fire, killing Ashanti instantly and seriously wounding her father and her friend. Both men were later taken to a nearby hospital.
Ashanti’s father drove a black Ford F-150 pickup truck—a make and model widely associated with cartel operatives in Mexico. To make matters worse, the vehicle reportedly bore license plates from the neighboring State of Mexico.
The gunmen clearly thought the pickup was being driven by rivals trying to dodge the checkpoint.
Ashanti, who was born in the United States, was reportedly visiting family in Silva de Arriba at the time of the incident.
Authorities believe there are at least six different cartels and gangs all vying for territory in Michoacan.
In addition to the CJNG, they include Los Viagras, the armed wing of the Familia Michoacana (Spanish abbr: FM) cartel; the Los Blancos de Troya criminal gang, the Tepalcatepec Cartel, the Zicuiran Cartel, the Virgin Cartel and remnants of the Knights Templar Cartel.
To further complicate the situation, both Los Viagras and the Los Blancos de Troya criminal gang are believed to recently have aligned themselves with the CJNG.
The cartels fight each other, the security forces and armed civilian self-defense groups.
The cartel operatives use the highway checkpoints to stop motorists and screen for rivals who may be moving through the area.
A major concern in Michoacan, and throughout Mexico in states with high levels of cartel activity, are ad hoc checkpoints set up by cartel gunmen whose uniforms at times are virtually indistinguishable from those of law-enforcement personnel.
The father’s first mistake was driving a black Ford pick-up truck with out-of-state license plates in an area with high levels of cartel activity.
The second mistake was failing to stop at the cartel-run checkpoint, which almost always will draw automatic gunfire from the cartel operatives.
Ironically, had the father stopped the vehicle and let the cartel operatives verify they were not members of a rival cartel, most likely they would have been allowed to continue on their way.
In the evening on 11 December, an American couple were shot dead as they drove in the municipality of Angamacutiro in northern portion of Michoacan.
A group of gunmen reportedly opened fire on the couple’s Ford F-150 Platinum pickup. The woman died at the scene while her husband died a short while later at a nearby hospital.
The man, born in the US to Mexican parents, and his wife, a naturalized US citizen, had traveled to Angamacutiro from California to visit relatives during the holiday season. The victims were most likely fired upon by cartel operatives who mistook them for members of a rival cartel, as their pickup had license plates from the north-central state of Queretaro.
Eight alleged cartel operatives were arrested for involvement in the murder of a 30-year-old surfer from Arizona who was shot dead on 17 October as he drove from Nogales to the seaside town of Puerto Penasco in Sonora.
Nicholas Quets, a former US Marine, was driving with his girlfriend and her mother on Federal Highway 2 near Caborca in a late model Ford pickup truck when gunmen in another vehicle tried to force him to pull over.
When Quets refused to stop, the assailants opened fire.
During the chase, Quets lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a retaining wall.
The gunmen executed Quets at point-blank range before fleeing. His girlfriend and her mother were unharmed.
The detained men are believed to be members of Los Deltas, the armed wing of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. One reportedly is a former police officer in Caborca.
The gunmen certainly keyed on Quets’ pickup truck. The truck’s Arizona license plate also undoubtedly drew the assailants’ attention.
Pickup trucks and large SUVs are routinely stolen in the US and driven across the border into Mexico for use by cartel operatives.
Two elderly Mexican-American women were found dead on 23 August 2024 in an overturned, bullet-ridden Nissan Pathfinder in Sonora.
The two had intended to travel from the Lukeville, Arizona/Sonoyta, Sonora, border crossing to Caborca, 100 miles south, their birthplace.
The attack vehicle, an F-150, was found abandoned nearby with weapons, ammunition and bulletproof vests, suggesting cartel involvement.
Possibly, the women failed to stop at a cartel checkpoint or drove into a firefight.
The US State Department repeatedly has warned American citizens against travel to Michoacan.
This service strongly concurs with that advice.
Multinational personnel, both Mexican and foreign, required to travel to Michoacan should do so with extreme caution, with consideration given to utilizing protective personnel. Travel should be undertaken only during hours of daylight and with fresh intelligence on areas to be visited.
Driving anywhere in Mexico with out-of-state or US plates draws unwanted attention. The use of local license plates is recommended whenever possible.
It is never wise to travel in large luxury SUVs or pickups, cartel operatives’ conveyance of choice.
Care should also be given to the profile the travelers present. A large SUV with five or more male travelers can be mistaken for a cartel vehicle by law enforcement and/or rival criminal groups.
If a roadblock is encountered, the best course of action is to stop. Attempting to run the checkpoint, whether legitimate or not, surely will draw gunfire. If a checkpoint is encountered, the driver should turn on the vehicle’s hazard lights to indicate that he has seen it, keep both hands on the wheel, and avoid any abrupt movements. They should stop when instructed to do so.
Under no circumstances should personnel travel in convoys of two or more vehicles, especially if the vehicles are SUVs or pickups. If it is necessary to travel in two vehicles, they should maintain a reasonable distance between them.
If confronted by police, cartel operatives or robbers, drivers and passengers should comply immediately with their instructions.
