22 Murdered in Single Day Throughout El Paso-Juarez Metropolitan Border Area

The El Paso-Juarez Metropolitan Border Area registered 22 murders in a 24-hour time span this past weekend.

According to local media reports, a total of 14 of the 22 killings occurred in three separate attacks as government officials struggle to maintain security from deadly cartel violence.

According to the Public Municipal Security Director, the string of killings began during the much-anticipated World Cup soccer match between Mexico and South Korea on Saturday morning. A team of cartel hitmen stormed a residence in colonia Torres del PRI and killed six adult males gathered at the residence to watch the event. In a second attack, gunmen stormed a residence in colonia Riberas del Bravo and kidnapped three male victims and murdered them as a child witness begged the gunmen not to kill his father.

In a third attack, six victims were gunned down and one other was injured on René Mascareña Street in the southeast section of the city, according to preliminary data from the police authorities. The incident occurred as the victims were gathered watching the Mexican team play when they were surprised by cartel gunmen, according to police reports.

At dawn in colonia Riberas del Bravo, cartel gunmen arrived at a post-match party and removed three male victims at gunpoint who were later shot and killed a short distance away. An additional four victims were murdered at various locations throughout the city, leaving a total of 22 dead during in less than 24-hour period.

Breitbart Texas reported extensively on the cartel violence in Juarez and the recent split between Los Aztecas and La Línea–which law enforcement contacts have attributed to the spike in cartel violence in the area. Also, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), El Nuevo Cártel de Juárez and La Línea are currently involved in a bitter dispute for valuable territory in Chihuahua against the Sinaloa Cartel and affiliated criminal gangs. In early May, due to the heightened levels of cartel violence, the federal government was forced to deploy elements of the Mexican military there.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com