Groups of cartel gunmen set up blockades while simultaneously fighting authorities in various parts of the border state of Nuevo Leon. The gunmen caused chaos along a series of important highways. The generalized violence comes just days after gunmen dumped 12 dismembered bodies in that state with banners threatening rival cartels.
On Wednesday afternoon, groups of cartel gunmen hijacked multiple tractor-trailers. They set fire to them in the southwestern part of Nuevo Leon, near the town of Hualahuises, along the highway connecting Montemorelos and Linares. Video recorded by motorists and shared on social media showed trucks on fire that had been used as blockades.
A motive for the blockades remains unclear. However, Nuevo Leon state police forces were clashing with cartel gunmen at about the same time in three separate locations, approximately 100 miles northeast of the blockades.
According to information released by Nuevo Leon’s Public Security Secretary Gerardo Palacios Pamanes, one police officer sustained gunshot injuries while authorities managed to arrest seven gunmen and kill three others. After those three separate shootouts in the northeast part of the state, authorities seized several weapons and vehicles, including a Barret .50 caliber rifle.
The shootouts and blockades come just one day after Nuevo Leon saw its deadliest day to date in 2023. As Breitbart Texas reported, gunmen from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas dumped 12 dismembered bodies in six separate locations within the Monterrey metropolitan area on Tuesday. Authorities responded to five other murders that day, setting a record for the year of 17 killings reported in one day.
The violence in Nuevo Leon comes at a time when several drug cartels, particularly the CDN-Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, have been fighting with several others for control of drug trafficking routes north and the lucrative local drug trade.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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