Baffled police who stormed a cartel hideout found a monkey wearing a bulletproof vest among the dead in a shootout.
Tuesday's gun battle between police and gang members left 11 criminals dead and two cops injured. And now, it has been confirmed, one spider monkey.
Images of the tiny gangster went viral online, and many social media users at first thought they must be fake but the authorities have now confirmed that the pictures are genuine.
The monkey appears to be wearing a combat vest and a mini khaki hoodie, and is lying flat on its back with its paws in the air.
The official police statement means that the spider monkey is now the 12th confirmed victim of the shootout in a Mexican suburb.
The primate was found on the chest of one of the dead gangsters and was the pet of one of the members of La Familia Michoacana.
The gang's hideout was in the former Aztec city of Texcaltitlan.
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The gangster was reportedly part of the regional leader of the Familia Michoacana's security team – whose head was known as El Gorilla – who fled during the police raid on Tuesday, June 14.
Local authorities have said that a veterinary doctor specialising in the species and a member of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, will carry out an autopsy on the spider monkey.
The shocking confrontation involved scores of heavily armed police as well as army, navy and National Guard troops.
Two members of the security team were hospitalised with gunshot wounds and two more were treated for less serious injuries after the gun battle in Texcaltitlan.
The Attorney General of the State of Mexico (FGJEM) said between seven and 10 gang members had been arrested.
Police say they confiscated a huge arsenal of weapons including 20 assault rifles, handguns and ammunition.
They also seized bulletproof vests, military uniforms and communication equipment.
It was the second pitched battle in this part of the country in just over a month following a similar attack in May.
Agents from the Mexican Prosecutor's Office and state police came under fire at the Public Ministry facilities by an armed group on board at least 20 trucks.
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