A weekend cartel attack that killed five men and left three more injured in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon is linked to a turf war over street-level drug sales. One of the main figures in that war operates from inside a state prison.
The attack took place over the weekend in the suburb of Guadalupe in the Monterrey metropolitan area. Gunmen used a small sedan to pull up to a business in the San Rafael neighborhood with 9mm and .40cal handguns, shooting a total of eight men. Five of them died at the scene. The gunmen fired 43 rounds into the building, injuring and killing anyone inside. Authorities found the vehicle used by the gunmen a few blocks from the initial scene. The case is currently listed as the most violent shooting in Nuevo Leon in 2021.
“El Rodo”
Breitbart Texas consulted with U.S. law enforcement sources who operate in Mexico about the motives behind the shooting. Current information points to a turf war between independent drug dealers, where a cell of hitmen under orders from Joel Rodolfo “El Rodo” Ramones Barba attacked a distribution spot run by another independent dealer known only as “El Kamala.”
Breitbart Texas previously exposed El Rodo, who has been operating from inside the Apodaca state prison in Nuevo Leon. With the help of corrupt state police officers, El Rodo has been able to control parts of the prison and give orders to gunmen on the outside as he seeks to control the suburbs of Guadalupe and Juarez. The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas previously targeted El Rodo.
Gerald “Tony” Aranda is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
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