Mexico: The drug cartel leaves 20 people dead in the village municipality, including the mayor

A drug gang, in the mountains of southern Mexico, has shot 20 people to death, including a mayor and his father, announced officials from this state.

Ricardo Maya, assistant secretary of Mexico's public security, said the criminal gang “Tequileros” is fighting the band “Familiia Michoana” in the region.

The Council of State Security Guerrero said an armed gang entered the village municipality of Totolapan on Wednesday and opened fire at a meeting the mayor was holding with other officials, the AP writes, Klan Kosova.tv.

Among the dead was Mayor Konrado Mendoza and his father, Juan Mendoza Acosta, a former mayor of the city. Most of the other victims are believed to be local officials.

Authorities said criminal groups operating in the area control the distribution of opium and are also involved in kidnappings, extortion and several murders in the region.

In Mexico, such attacks on public officials are not rare, these come at a time when Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador's security strategy is being severely debated.

The president has placed extraordinary responsibilities on the armed forces rather than on civilian police, with the sole aim of curbing continued violence in Mexico.