Suspected illegal loggers kill 3 forest rangers on patrol in central Mexico
Suspected illegal loggers shot and killed three forest rangers on patrol and wounded a fourth in central Mexico, near the slopes of the Iztaccihuatl volcano.
MEXICO CITY — Suspected illegal loggers shot and killed three forest rangers on patrol and wounded a fourth in central Mexico, near the slopes of the Iztaccihuatl volcano.
Police in the central state of Puebla, east of Mexico City, said late Sunday that the killings took place earlier in the day. The wounded man was being treated at a hospital, police said.
The four men were “carrying out the duties of forest rangers” when they were shot, police said. Because Mexico has no national forest service, farmers from local communal farms often take up patrolling to protect their communities’ forests, combat forest fires and logging.
The attackers were “presumed to be illegal loggers,” according to a police statement, and a search was underway for them.
Loggers have long targeted the forested lower slopes of the Iztaccihuatl volcano, which is not far from the still-active Popocatépetl volcano.
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