Fourteen male police officers were kidnapped in Chiapas, Mexico on Tuesday, triggering an extensive search operation involving federal and local authorities. The officers were en route to the state capital in a transport vehicle when armed individuals in multiple trucks intercepted them. The female occupants of the vehicle were reportedly unharmed and released, while the male officers were taken captive. The abduction took place on the highway connecting Ocozocoautla and Tuxtla Gutierrez.

This incident follows a recent surge in violence in the region bordering Guatemala, attributed to a territorial conflict between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Despite this escalating tension, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently downplayed the severity of the situation during a visit to Chiapas, claiming that the state was largely peaceful and tranquil. However, just prior to the president's visit, an official from the Attorney General's Office was shot and seriously injured in Tuxtla Gutierrez, with her companion being killed. Furthermore, a clash between the military and suspected organized crime members in Ocozocoautla on June 19 resulted in the deaths of a National Guard member and a civilian. This location is close to where Tuesday's kidnapping transpired.