Fifteen reported killed in Mexico, gang suspects arrested

"At least" seven were reported killed in incidents around Mexico on 24 October, including four suspected criminals gunned down by police, Proceso reported. The four were shot dead after they began firing on police approaching a house to investigate a reported kidnapping in the district of Allende near Monterrey, northern Mexico. Three men were separately found dead in the district of Zinacantepec in Estado de México, with an unspecified message left beside them by the presumed killers. A day before, three marines and eight gunmen were killed in "intense" gun battles around Guadalupe in the north-central state of Zacatecas, one of the dead being a Zetas cartel commander dubbed El Comandante King Kong, Proceso reported. He was identified as head of The Zetas in the eastern state of Hidalgo who had recently moved his activities to the district of Ojocaliente, south of the city of Zacatecas. Marines also arrested nine presumed members of The Zetas on 22 and 23 October, in operations in the northern state of Coahuila that also yielded arms, ammunition and 401 kilogrammes of marijuana, Proceso reported. On 22 October, soldiers arrested Erasmo Israel Sotelo Hernández - El Frío - a veteran criminal authorities have linked to at least 30 killings, and chief in the Cuernavaca district of the gang Guerreros Unidos. He was arrested after a gun fight, apparently in Chilpancingo in the west-coast state of Guerrero, and hospitalized for injuries sustained. Eight suspected criminals including a minor were detained with him, Proceso reported. Sotelo was previously arrested three times on murder, extortion and drug-trafficking charges but released, most recently conditionally in January 2012. His gang was reportedly fighting the Familia Michoacana to control the northern half of Guerrero.