More and more people are getting involved in robberies and they do it with trucks, vans, cars, weapons and violence.
Transporters, operators, and motorists have expressed their dissatisfaction with the theft of cargo transport on the roads connecting Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí along Federal Highway 57, with the Matehuala-San José Iturbide section being another area affected by crime.
“We noticed that from the end of July, Between Matehuala and San José Iturbide, insecurity increased in both directions. We had gone 10 months without incidents and just in this stretch we had three events,” a haulier who uses the route to reach the north of the country told TyT.
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He explained that robberies to motor transport are more sophisticated than a few years ago, Now, he says, more people are involved, and with more equipment.
“They are well-organized gangs that act in a coordinated manner, they carry weapons. First they close in on you, they put a tractor or a truck in front of you, trucks on the side and cars, there are like eight guys.“Last Sunday, at around two in the afternoon, they took a trailer,” he explained.
Added to this complaint are those of other transporters who have been victims of insecurity in Matehuala and San José Iturbide, who detected that the way of working of criminals consists of lower the operator from the unit, kidnap him (sometimes) and take the vehicle to remove the boxes, either while it is moving or afterwards.
“They slow down and block you, One day they even had a crane, to that extent, Then the tractor-trailer and trailer appear abandoned in other places,” he adds.
Matehuala and San Jose Iturbide
San José Iturbide, in Guanajuato, borders to the north with the municipalities of San Luis de la Paz, Doctor Mora and Tierra Blanca; to the east with Tierra Blanca and Querétaro; to the south with Querétaro and the municipality of San Miguel de Allende; to the west with San Miguel de Allende and San Luis de la Paz.entities through which cargo transport circulates.
Meanwhile, Matehuala, in San Luis Potosí, is bordered to the north by the municipality of Cedral, Nuevo León and the municipality of Villa de la Paz; to the south by Nuevo León and Villa de Guadalupe; to the east by Nuevo León; to the west by Villa de Guadalupe and Villa de la Paz.
That Sunday, local media reported a robbery on Highway 57, between El Refugio and La Huerta, in San Luis, where a video shows an armed robbery of a vehicle in circulation.
“There were more than 10 people in several vehicles, including a tractor-trailer. They take it all the time, with impunity. The incident occurred around 2:30 pm. They took the driver away,” those who witnessed the incident posted on social media.
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Apart from pointing out the level of planning with which crime operates, the Social media users question the presence and actions of the authoritiesmainly from the National guardresponsible for the protection of federal highways.
Fleet owners are concerned about the integrity of their operators, since The passage through San Luis Potosí is mandatory for transport routes that move goods in the Bajío and towards the north of the country.
“There is no way out, you either go through there or you don’t. The 57 is the main highway that connects the entire Republic, You arrive in Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo León and from there to the United States“There is no way to turn around or take another route,” said another transporter.
Robberies in San Luis Potosi
Data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP) indicate that in the first six months of 2024, 249 robberies were recorded against transporters in San Luis Potosí, a figure that has already surpassed the 219 cases that occurred in all of last year.
The SESNSP details that of the total number of assaults so far in 2024 in the entity, 148 were executed with violence.
In July of this year alone, 48 robberies were committed against transporters, 433% more than in the same period in 2023, when only nine were documented. However, the sixth month was not the highest in this incidence, In June there were 54 complaints.
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The greatest damage is to the operators, in addition to the rest of the inconveniences that are generated by these acts, such as bad customer experience, loss of merchandise, time spent by the unit stopped, costs of cranes or impound lotsto name a few.
“The truck appears empty, vandalized, you pay for the towing, and the very fact of saying ‘I’m not going to the north and what is on the outskirts’ is something that sticks to the preferred routes of customers“, added one witness.
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