Three CJNG Members Killed in Armed Pursuit on Colima-Manzanillo Highway

On April 17, 2026, a citizen alert about three armed men on motorcycles near Coquimatlán, Colima — on the strategic Colima-Manzanillo highway corridor — triggered a coordinated joint response from Municipal Police, the Mexican Navy (SEMAR), the National Guard, the Mexican Army, the Colima State Police, and the State Prosecutor's Office. When security forces attempted to intercept the suspects, the men opened fire, initiating an armed pursuit. All three suspects were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire; no security personnel were injured. Colima State Security Secretary Lieutenant Fabián Gómez Calcaneo confirmed that the deceased 'belonged to a previously identified CJNG cell suspected of participating in various criminal acts in the region.' The confrontation occurred on the same corridor as the April 16 police corruption arrests linked to CJNG intelligence leaks at the Port of Manzanillo — suggesting a concentrated anti-CJNG operational push along the Colima corridor in the days following the Semana Santa security transition. The Colima-Manzanillo highway is a critical trafficking artery feeding CJNG's principal precursor import port.