VILLA PURIFICACION, Mexico---Mexican authorities investigated Saturday whether a drug cartel was behind new car fires in Jalisco state, a day after the gang lit up the region in attacks that left three soldiers missing.
The Jalisco state prosecutor's office appealed for calm as it reported that a dairy shop and two of the business's vehicles were torched in the tourist town of Puerto Vallarta.
Prosecutors are "investigating the events in Puerto Vallarta. It hasn't been confirmed that it is a roadblock by organized crime," Jalisco state government spokesman Gonzalo Sanchez wrote on Twitter.
The fires came a day after dozens of vehicles, banks and gasoline stations were set on fire across the state, including Puerto Vallarta. Authorities have detained 19 people.
Officials say the Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel launched Friday's attacks in reaction to an operation to dismantle the powerful gang, which has expanded its territory and forged ties with foreign crime groups.
A total of seven people were killed, including three soldiers who died when gunmen shot their helicopter's tail rotor, forcing it to make an emergency landing near Villa Purificacion.
Soldiers and federal investigators were still combing the area for the three missing soldiers.
Jalisco has emerged in recent months as a new challenge in President Enrique Pena Nieto's battle to contain drug violence in Mexico.
The New Generation cartel, led by Nemesio Oseguera, alias "El Mencho," has violently defied authorities, killing 20 police officers in two ambushes in March and April. It has forged alliances with gangs around the globe.
- Expanded search for troops -
The fate of the missing soldiers remained a mystery, more than 24 hours after their emergency landing in an area of pastures with thick vegetation near a hill.
A white sport utility vehicle was left behind by the gunmen, with their assault rifles still inside.
"The search (area) has expanded," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the soldiers could either be hiding, unconscious or dead.
"We still don't know what happened to them," the official said.
But officials would not speculate on whether the cartel could have kidnapped the soldiers.
AFP
