More than 200 federal and state police personnel supported by elements of the Mexican army were deployed to once tourist-friendly Guaymas amid escalating violence and threats of a cartel war.

The deployment was made for additional high-visibility patrols. The area is subject to a security alert issued by the U.S. consulate in Hermosillo. U.S. employees are prohibited from traveling to the popular locations of San Carlos, Guaymas, and Empalme, Sonora, due to recent violent activity.

The security alert was issued after credible information was received regarding a possible cartel war in Guaymas over the presumed murder of three operatives belonging to “Los Salazar” within the Sinaloa Cartel. They were vacationing there when they were arrested by municipal police. The trio was handed over to a rival criminal group.

Los Salazar reportedly issued an order to retaliate against the Guaymas police and their allies for the presumed murder of the operatives, according to Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources. The order, and a spike in cartel-related violence, triggered the security alert.

As a result of the video, six Guaymas police officers were removed from duty pending an investigation and the department was subjected to an inspection of all facilities, vehicles, and personnel by federal authorities.

Breitbart Texas previously reported on cartel violence in the Guaymas/San Carlos area, to include the assassination of a municipal police commander gunned down in March 2018.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com