Cartel Gunmen Attack Mexican Border State Police Patrol, HQ

Suspected Sinaloa Cartel gunmen attacked a police convoy in Chihuahua and later a station, spraying the building with hundreds of rounds. The attack left four municipal officers wounded and several cars set ablaze Saturday.

A group of suspected gunmen from the Sinaloa Cartel attacked a police convoy in Allende, consisting of municipal and state officers. Authorities were able to repel the attack although four officers were wounded in the exchange. A short time later, the same cartel gunmen supposedly attacked the Villa Coronado Police station, spraying the facilities with hundreds of rifle rounds. Villa Coronado is located approximately 20 miles southeast of Allende and 150 miles south of the state capital of Chihuahua.

The brazen Saturday attacks began shortly before 6 pm and are believed in retaliation for the armed confrontation and arrests of seven Sinaloa Cartel gunmen which occurred Friday, according to Breitbart News law enforcement sources.

Allende and the surrounding municipalities are seeing an increase of large convoys with heavily armed gunmen in tactical gear.

Breitbart News previously reported on the kidnapping of four municipal police officers on July 14. The remains of the four officers were later discovered in a ravine in Valle de Zaragoza. As a response to the spike in cartel violence and attacks on police, Mexico City launched additional security elements to the area.

Southeastern Chihuahua maintains a heavy presence of cartel operators from “La Línea,” the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel, which is in a turf war against the Sinaloa Cartel and affiliated gangs.

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.