Gunmen from the Sinaloa Cartel torched several vehicles and blocked highways in the Mexican state of Zacatecas in response to a series of arrests by authorities.
The violence quickly spread to several parts of the state where the Sinaloa Cartel wages a fierce turf war with a faction of Cartel Jalisco New Generation.
The violence began in the rural parts of the state, where authorities clashed with gunmen in three separate places, making a total of six arrests and seizing several vehicles and weapons. Police officers also killed one gunman. The clashes occurred in the municipalities of Fresnillo and Sain Alto, Zacatecas. According to information released by state authorities, the gunmen all claimed to be part of the Sinaloa Cartel, even though authorities listed them as Cartel Del Pacifico. The law enforcement operations were made up of state police and military forces.
On Sunday night and Monday morning, Sinaloa Cartel gunmen carjacked numerous vehicles and set them on fire after parking them sideways along several highways throughout the state. Gunmen also blocked off several highway tolls.
Authorities responded to the chaos unleashed by the cartel but were met with heavy resistance, setting off two shootouts, one in Fresnillo and one in Sain Alto.
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.