Cartel Gunmen Ambush Police Convoy near Texas Border

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — The calm enjoyed in this border city for several days came to an abrupt end over the weekend following a series of fierce shootouts. Cartel gunmen attempted to ambush a convoy of police officers responding to the gunfire.

The violence began when a group of Gulf Cartel gunmen from Reynosa carried out an incursion into Matamoros. As Breitbart Texas has been reporting since May, two rival factions of the Gulf Cartel have been fighting for control of Reynosa and its routes into Texas. During the clash, a convoy of gunmen entered Matamoros and dispersed into various parts of the city. The ensuing chases were followed by barrages of gunfire.

Law enforcement sources consulted by Breitbart Texas revealed that the first spikes of violence took place in the area known as the Indian’s Curve, where gunfire was exchanged between rival groups. During the shootout, some cartel gunmen tried to ambush a convoy of police vehicles by opening fire from on top of an overpass in Periferico near the city’s Walmart and the Televisa TV station. From that bridge, the gunmen injured one officer.

After the cops fought off the attack, the gunmen fled the scene set off a chase that spread through various avenues in the city. At the scene of the ambush, the gunmen left behind a bullet-riddled white SUV.

The high-intensity shootouts lasted for approximately 30 minutes and then continued as sporadic bouts through various sectors including Del Niño and Lauro Villar avenues as well as San Francisco, Buenavista, and Las Vistas neighborhood with the most intense fighting taking place near Televisa Matamoros.

During the chases, multiple vehicles including police and innocent victims’ were damaged. Multiple homes took heavy damage from stray gunfire.

Despite the violence that spread through the city, local authorities have kept silent about the events that took place.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.