WATCH: Leaked Mexican Cartel Video Shows Firefight South of Texas Wildlife Refuge

REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Convoys of cartel gunmen clashed in a Mexican neighborhood immediately south of a U.S. wildlife refuge. The fierce gun battle went on for more than an hour and reached an international bridge zone that connects this city with Pharr, Texas.

A leaked cartel video obtained by Breitbart Texas reveals the moment when gunmen from one of the factions ride in an armored SUV in what appears to be a patrol operation. Moments later, the gunmen can be heard calling for reinforcements as they begin to fire their weapons at rivals.

Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that weekend gun battle took place in Reynosa starting in a neighborhood called Alacranes, which is immediately south of the border from the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. From the Alacranes neighborhood, the gunmen moved through a series of dirt roads and rural highways spraying gunfire until they reached an area immediately next to the Reynosa-Pharr International Bridge.

The fighting led to Mexican security forces deploying teams of police officers to guard the bridge, which is one of the main commercial entry points into Texas.

For more than a year, rival factions of the Gulf Cartel fight almost daily gun battles as they continue a fierce power struggle for the region’s drug and human trafficking routes. The fighting led to more than 500 murders directly linked to the cartel violence, including innocent bystanders, gunmen, police, and military forces.

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 “A.C. Del Angel” from Tamaulipas.