Cartel gunmen stole four police vehicles during a rescue attempt just south of the border with Arizona over the weekend near Altar, Sonora.

Due to the limited information released by the government, local news reports show conflicting accounts about what led to the theft of the vehicles. The police equipment was parked at a gas station prior to the incident. Later, gunmen in a convoy of at least 20 SUVs were able to surround and take the vehicles, TV Azteca reported.

According to Agencia Informativa Mexico, the gunmen and police briefly clashed, leading to the rescue of a cartel figure in custody at the scene. The overwhelmed police called for backup and set off a large-scale operation with federal and state forces.

During that response, the Sonora State Public Security Police (PESP) arrested three suspects and seized six rifles, a pistol, tactical equipment, and another stolen vehicle.

The three men are linked to the current wave of violence near the city of Caborca. Local news outlets report more than a dozen executions in the last week of April in the area.

Authorities recovered the abandoned police vehicles near Caborca.

The Caborca Cartel, led by notorious drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, is believed to be behind the ongoing violence in the region. Once a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, Quintero broke away to establish his organization with the help of Sinaloa’s rivals. Quintero is currently wanted by the U.S. for his role behind the 1985 murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the 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 “Diego Marquez” from Sonora.