A series of investigations continue under the radar in connection with a confusion of sorts where Mexican Army soldiers exchanged gunfire with a group of Tamaulipas State Police officers. The soldiers apparently mistakenly identified the police as cartel gunmen. Government officials in Mexico tried to cover up the shootout, even though one soldier and two police officers were shot.
Breitbart Texas obtained exclusive access to a series of military reports about the shootout that occurred on December 10, at 5:40 a.m., in a rural area between Reynosa and Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, just south of the Texas border. The clash happened when Mexican military forces responded to what they believed was a shootout between cartel gunmen, something that has been a regular occurrence in that specific area for several months. The soldiers actually rolled into a shootout between Tamaulipas state police officers and cartel gunmen.
At the time of the shootout, the police officers were not in uniform, their vehicles did not have police logos, and they did not have any sirens or strobe lights turned on, the report revealed. The shootout began when the police officers were driving in several vehicles toward a rural community called Santa Apolonia.
Along the way, they stumbled across a convoy made up of 15 vehicles full of Gulf Cartel gunmen and almost immediately began exchanging gunfire. During that initial clash, police officer Franklin Gonzalez Ruiz sustained various injuries.
As the shootout went on, Mexican Amry forces responded to the shootout, thinking it was rival factions of the Gulf Cartel clashing. The military blocked off roads, moved to surround the gunmen, and began attacking them. This set off a three-way shootout. During that second clash, police commander Manuel de Jesus Diaz sustained various injuries as well.
Amid the confusion, the Gulf Cartel gunmen managed to escape, leaving behind two of their vehicles. Mexican authorities hid any information about the shootout in an attempt to downplay the raging violence that continues to take place in the region.
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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