Six people arrested in southern Mexico after violence uproots 4,000 people

The Chiapas prosecutor's office said Saturday that authorities had “rescued 4,187 people” who were “hiding in their homes following acts of violence” and transferred them to shelters.

Two people were found dead, including a minor, and at least 17 houses and businesses were burned. More than 20 vehicles were also set on fire or vandalized.

The prosecutor's office confirmed Sunday evening that six people carrying unlicensed firearms were arrested in the area.

The Reforma newspaper reported that armed men were running around shouting that all local youths should come to them “to join criminal gangs.”

Violence has intensified in Chiapas due to fighting between the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels, Mexico's two largest criminal gangs.

Cartels are fighting over drug trafficking routes and control of other criminal activities such as extortion, according to think tank InSight Crime.

Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since 2006, when the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking, with most of them blamed on criminal gangs.

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