CHILPANCINGO, Mexico – An officer of the Guerrero State Police in southern Mexico died and four others were wounded in an ambush Saturday while going to investigate a reported homicide, the state’s Public Safety Secretariat said.

The incident occurred around 7:00 a.m. local time (1300 GMT) at the town of Zacatula on the Siglo XXI expressway that connects Acapulco with Lazaro Cardenas, a town in the western state of Michoacan, where the police were shot at.

Killed in the attack was Angel Castro Castillo, while Antonio Guzman Huaxtitlan, Juan Antonio Montiel de Jesus, Jose Alfredo Jimenez Casarrubias and Marcial Rodrigo Fortunato were wounded.

Found at the scene of the attack were five clips from an AK-47 assault rifle, among the most frequently used by organized crime.

After the incident, personnel of the Mexican armed forces and federal and state police spread out in search of the attackers.

Also found some 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the crime scene was the body of someone shot in the head, half naked, handcuffed and with a wire wound around his neck.

At the same time in Chiapas, also in the southern part of the country, police arrested four individuals in the municipality of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border, who were in possession of an arsenal.

They were found to have 100 grenades, two explosive mines with detonators, four rifles, two handguns, ammunition and a substance that could be used to make synthetic drugs.

Officials at the Chiapas prosecutor’s office said they were riding in two vehicles carrying arms and explosives when they were stopped because of their nervous behavior.

The individuals were identified as Pedro Mesina, 29, Carlos Humberto Hernandez, 31, Manuel Duran Velazquez, alias “El Flaco” (Skinny), and Miguel de la Cruz.

Those taken into custody said they had acquired the arsenal in the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and that they were taking it to Michoacan in western Mexico.

The wave of violence associated with drug trafficking and organized crime has taken 6,368 lives so far this year, according to unofficial figures published Saturday in the daily El Universal.