Gunmen believed with the Gulf Cartel shot at police officers at a highway toll booth, injuring two. This triggered a short but intense shootout immediately south of the border with Texas.
The shootout took place on Friday afternoon. Gunmen in two SUVs drove past a group of Tamaulipas state police officers and began firing.
The shooting turned into a gun battle as police tried to fight back. Information provided to Breitbart Texas by law enforcement sources revealed that two officers sustained shrapnel injuries.
The shootout lasted for approximately 10 minutes before gunmen fled the scene without arrests. Authorities are working to track down the gunmen.
The town of Nuevo Progreso, just north of the scene of the shootout, is a popular tourist hub for U.S. citizens looking for low-cost medicines and liquor. Because of the lucrative tourist market, the Gulf Cartel has been careful to avoid violence. The town is largely controlled by the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel, which also controls nearby Rio Bravo.
The Matamoros faction is at odds with the Reynosa sect, known as Los Metros. The fighting between the two factions has led to gun battles in the region between Reynosa and Rio Bravo.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.