San Pedro Atlapulco residents block Mexico‑Toluca highway over illegal logging

Residents of the San Pedro Atlapulco community in the municipality of Ocoyoacac, State of Mexico, confronted a group they said were engaged in illegal timber extraction in the La Marquesa forest area. After detaining three pickup trucks used to transport the wood, the villagers burned the vehicles on the Mexico‑Toluca highway, causing a full closure of the road and traffic jams for several kilometers.

State security forces, including the Secretariat of Security of the State of Mexico, the National Guard and the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, later seized a separate forest‑related property in Xonacatlán, confiscating thousands of cubic meters of pine and oyamel timber, saw equipment, and a transport vehicle. The Protectora de Bosques del Estado de México (PROBOSQUE) confirmed community concerns over the seriousness of clandestine logging, stressing that it is the primary threat to the region’s forests and that their role is limited to supporting federal authorities in investigations.