Another Family Attacked by Cartel in Northern Mexico–One Dead

Another attack carried out by cartel gunmen in Northern Mexico left one dead and a second wounded from a traveling family.

The attack took place during the early morning hours on Thursday, according to local reports. The victims were traveling in a pickup in a rural mountain community near the Sonora-Chihuahua border when gunmen opened fire on the outskirts of Sahuaripa.

Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources say a woman identified as Arcelia Gracia López, 30, and her brother Rodrigo, 40, plus another unidentified adult were traveling to the town of Yécora. While on the road, they came upon a group of gunmen who opened fire–fatally striking Arcelia and wounding Rodrigo. The unidentified adult was uninjured. The assailants then sped away in at least one truck.

The area around Sahuaripa is approximately 165 miles south from Bavispe, the site of the narco-terror attack that murdered three women and six children near a rural Mormon community.

The rural mountain communities along the eastern section of Sonora is known for the heavy presence of cartel activity with operatives patrolling unchallenged in convoys of armored vehicles with military-style weapons. Sources recently reported convoys in communities of Sahuaripa, Yécora, Rosario de Tesopaco.

In August, Breitbart Texas reported when the Mexican Army discovered three trucks equipped with homemade armor–including a cloned police vehicle. The discovery was made near Sahuaripa at a clandestine narco-camp. Two of the modified trucks featured gun turrets.

According to Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources at the time, investigators were working a series of cartel-related killings in rural Güisamopa and others. The murders were related to a turf war along trafficking routes splitting the Sonora/Chihuahua line.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce completed work assignments in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year tour in Monterrey, Mexico, for the U.S. Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program.