Video: Mexican Police Chief Resigns After Surviving Fierce Cartel Attack

A newly appointed municipal police chief in central Mexico resigned this week after surviving a fierce attack by cartel gunmen while traveling in an armored patrol vehicle. The attack took place two weeks ago and left two of the chief’s bodyguards wounded. His armored truck sustained more than 100 bullet strikes.

Celaya, Guanajuato, Police Chief José Carlos Ramos-Ramos turned in his resignation this past Friday — just 21 days after being named the Police Director of Celaya, according to a local media report. The departure from his newly appointed post comes one week after he survived a fierce attack by cartel hitmen while traveling as part of a two-vehicle convoy on the Celaya-Salamanca highway on November 15.

According to local media reports, Chief Ramos-Ramos was traveling in a two-vehicle convoy with his assigned bodyguards and at least one member of the Guardia National (National Guard). While traveling on the highway, a truck occupied by numerous cartel operatives intercepted the chief’s convoy and directed intense rifle fire, specifically at the director’s vehicle. The bodyguards reportedly sprung to action and repelled the attack by returning gunfire at the shooters. A cell phone video (above) released on social media captured intense audio of the attack.

After the chief’s security personnel repelled the attack, security elements from the state, municipal police, and the Mexican army responded to the area. Investigators from the state attorney general’s office processed the crime scene the night of the November 15 attack and recovered over 480 spent .223 caliber shell casing and ten spent .50 caliber shell casings. Officials from the state attorney general’s office also reported that the cartel hitmen were also armed with a grenade launcher and grenades. Both chief’s bodyguards were wounded during the attack — one severely.

Chief Ramos-Ramos previously served as Chief of Police in the municipality of Leon, Guanajuato, but resigned in July of this year after receiving numerous credible death threats, according to a Breitbart law enforcement source.

The city of Celaya, as along with the rest of the state of Guanajuato, has been the location of a bitter turf war between organized crime drug and fuel theft gangs. The city of Celaya registered 103 homicides during October, with 11 coming in one single day, early in the month, according to local media reports.

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.