Ten people have been killed by drug cartel gunmen in a Mexican pool hall.
The Santa Rosa de Lima cartel has allegedly claimed responsibility for the violent scene at the bar in the Tarimoro municipality, in the state of Guanajuato, Infobae reported.
The assailants ambushed El Jarras pool hall, an establishment in the area downtown, where local festivities were taking place. Nine people died on the scene and one victim succumbed to their injuries after being transported to a hospital.
Gruesome images of the attack on Wednesday night began circulating online shortly after. In a harrowing video reportedly recorded by the attackers, shots can be heard as an injured man is shown lying on the floor.
The cartel left orange and green cards scattered on the scene claiming the attack.
One of the signs read: “This happened to me for supporting ‘Zermeño’ and will keep happening to anyone who supports him. [They] will face the consequences.”
The reference is likely made to Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel member Santiago Quiroz Zermeño, known as “El chago,” who is currently in police custody. The criminal organization has been feuding with the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel over drug sales since 2017.
The other card stated that Tarimoro and the neighbouring municipalities of Moncada, Jerez, Jerécuaro and Apaseo el Alto “belonged” to the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel to commercialise illegal substances. Infobae reports that the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel had begun using the pool hall as a drug house to sell crystal meth.
Last week, the Santa Rosa de Lima warned the Jalisco Nueva Generación of an attack on a video that showed a human head inside the trunk of a car.
The tension between the two criminal groups has left a trail of blood and violence in recent years. Just on Saturday, the decapitated bodies of two individuals believed to have been kidnapped by the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel were found in a city 19 miles away from Tarimoro.
