Seven Cartel Gunmen Killed in Mexico During Border City Shootout  

Seven cartel gunmen and a Mexican Army soldier died during a fierce firefight with military forces in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. The deadly clash is the second large-scale gun battle in a span of 15 days to spread terror in the Mexican border city.

The violence began on Tuesday evening and continued into Wednesday morning. The border city of Nuevo Laredo is controlled by the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. Most of the clashes took place on the south side of the city and also near the highway that connects Nuevo Laredo with Monterrey.

Initially, Tamaulipas state authorities confirmed that seven gunmen had died in the shootout. It remains unclear how many gunmen were injured in the shootout. However, Breitbart Texas verified that one Mexican Army soldier also died in the clash and seven others were injured.

The shootout comes days after Mexican army soldiers arrested Heriberto “El Negrolo” Rodriguez Hernandez — a top lieutenant in charge of the Hell’s Troops (Tropa Del Infierno), the enforcement CDN-Los Zetas. As Breitbart Texas reported at the time, the cartel gunmen responded to the arrest by carrying out numerous attacks throughout the city, which shut down all activity for some time.

This week, the Tamaulipas government claimed that authorities would be increasing enforcement actions and patrolling in the city to improve public safety. Since the current governor of Tamaulipas Americo Villarreal took office in October, his police officers have significantly reduced their enforcement actions. The move has had a negative impact on public safety as cartel gunmen have only been emboldened in recent weeks.

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 “Francisco Morales” and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.