Two businessmen were victims of violence in less than two weeks in different parts of the country. In both cases, it is believed that their activities in the agricultural and gas station sectors may be the motive for their disappearance and murder.
Eduardo Ochoa Arias, a banana farmer from Colima, was reported missing on March 13 after a group of armed men intercepted him in the community of Cerro de Ortega, in the municipality of Tecomán.
The farmer was with other people when the unknown men forcibly took him away.
His disappearance prompted protests from family and friends demanding action from the federal and state governments to find Eduardo Ochoa Arias alive.
Despite the demands for justice, Eduardo Ochoa’s body was found on Saturday, March 21, in the sea near Boca de Apiza, Michoacán. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, authorities conducted DNA tests for identification.
Another violent incident occurred this Tuesday, March 24, when an armed group kidnapped gas station owner Arnulfo Aguilar Salazar in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
According to reports, the 81-year-old was in a late-model BMW on Juan Pablo II Boulevard in the Lomas de Guadalupe neighborhood when he was intercepted.
Aguilar Salazar’s car was found abandoned a few meters from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the Salvador Allende High School of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS).
Arnulfo Aguilar Salazar, along with his brother, is identified as one of the most prominent businessmen in the hydrocarbon sector in Sinaloa. He owns Grupo Águila, a company with operations in Culiacán and other areas of the state.
These events occur within a context of constant extortion against business owners in various parts of the country.
The Mexican Employers’ Confederation (Coparmex) reported that, according to its data, 46.8% of businesses were victims of at least one crime, with extortion being the second most common.
The organization has also identified this crime as one of the most impactful on businesses and one that has been on the rise since 2025, according to its national president, Juan José Sierra Álvarez.
According to the 2025 Annual Report on Security and Crime Incidence from the National Citizen Observatory, the state of Colima ranked fourth nationally in extortion, with a rate of 16.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in the state’s victim ranking.
While the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) holds significant territorial control in Colima and Michoacán, the Sinaloa Cartel dominates Sinaloa, as it is their main stronghold.
The disappearance of Arnulfo Aguilar Salazar occurs within a context of violence in Sinaloa, where factions of Los Chapitos and Los Mayos within the Sinaloa Cartel have been engaged in a war since September 2014.
Source: infobae
