Mexican Town Abducts Gang Leader’s Mom

More than 200 soldiers have been deployed to a southern Mexican town after residents kidnapped the mother of a drug gang’s leader to demand that their loved ones be released. The town of Totolapan in Guerrero state has been controlled by a gang leader nicknamed “El Tequilero” for years, but things heated up recently as the gang became embroiled in turf wars. Last week, El Tequilero and his gang allegedly abducted several residents of the town who he suspected of working for rival gangs, and locals responded to the incident by forming their own “self-defense” force, the Associated Press reported. A few dozen armed vigilantes took to the streets and later released a video in which they demanded the release of all those kidnapped by El Tequilero. “We have your mother here, Mr. Tequilero,” one woman said in the video. “I propose an exchange: I’ll give you your mother if you give me my husband, but I want him safe and sound.” Authorities said they were sending a team of negotiators along with hundreds of soldiers to attempt to defuse the situation. “The goal of the team is to ensure that no injury is done to the missing person, nor to the mother of the head of the Tequileros gang, who has apparently been taken by the self-defense forces,” a statement from Guerrero authorities said. Five of about two dozen people being held by the vigilantes have been released, though the mother of El Tequileros is still believed to be held.