Mexican border state police forces killed 11 cartel gunmen during a series of shootouts where gunmen sought to terrorize locals. The shootouts took place in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon.
The attacks began on Wednesday in the town of General Teran, Nuevo Leon, when a group of gunmen pulled up to the city’s police station and began firing into the building. No injuries were reported in the initial attack.
The gunmen tried to flee, but authorities called for backup and began a search operation in an attempt to locate the gunmen.
According to a news release from Nuevo Leon’s State Police (known as Civil Force), hours after the initial attack, state police forces came upon a convoy of cartel gunmen in the town of Los Ramones, just northeast of the Monterrey metropolitan area. The gunmen tried to flee and then clashed with police forces in a large-scale shootout where authorities arrested one suspect and killed 11 gunmen. Authorities also seized six vehicles and multiple weapons.
The shootouts come as Nuevo Leon continues to see a dramatic rise in violence as several drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, clash in fierce turf wars.
According to Monterrey’s Periodico ABC, state officials believe the initial attack on the General Teran police building was an attempt by gunmen to intimidate police forces since, in recent weeks, authorities increased their patrolling and security checkpoints in the region. The increased security activity led to the arrest of 12 gunmen.
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.