Authorities in South Texas are investigating a shootout between a border city police officer and a suspected human smuggler working for the Gulf Cartel.
The shootout took place over the weekend on the south side of Mission, near the intersection of Military Road and Farm to Market 494, in a rural area just west of Anzalduas Park. The location is near the Juan Diego Academy, a private Catholic school.
The general area is along the banks of the Rio Grande and is a known human smuggling corridor due to the lack of physical barriers into Texas. On the south side, there is a popular riverfront park known as La Playita where cartel smugglers used jetskis in the past to smuggle migrants.
Details of the encounter remain unclear, but a Mission Police officer reportedly fought back against an armed human smuggler who was in the area. Both the officer and the human smuggler sustained severe injuries and had to be rushed to a local hospital. The suspect remains listed in critical condition. The police officer is listed as stable.
The shooting comes at a time when the Gulf Cartel is engaging in an ongoing turf war between rival factions. This turf war led some smugglers to begin carrying weapons on both sides of the border. The shooting suspect is believed to have been working with smugglers from the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, which is based in Reynosa.
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.