A shootout on Wednesday in the northern state of Nuevo León left at least 11 suspected gang members dead, according to state authorities.
Army, National Guard and state police agents were summoned before dawn to the municipality of General Terán after suspects fired upon municipal police headquarters.
According to the newspaper Infobae, the local police chief, Felipe Barush, said his men were able to repel the attack which occurred around 4:30 a.m., with no casualties reported.
The gunmen fled northeast in a white pick-up truck on federal highway 35 in the direction of the municipality of China, perhaps trying to draw the police into an ambush. The attackers apparently tossed spike strips along the highway behind them with at least one tractor-trailer seen along the side of the road with punctured tires.
Soldiers and National Guard members, joined by state police officials, soon gave chase. The authorities expanded their search to the neighboring municipalities of Los Herreras and Cerralvo, eventually coming upon a suspect in the municipality of Los Ramones, about 40 kilometers north of General Terán.
The man — dressed in fatigues and tactical gear, and carrying an automatic weapon — was arrested. Assuming the suspect was a lookout, the authorities remained on the alert and soon thereafter detected a convoy of eight vehicles approaching from Cerralvo further north.
The authorities — supported by four military helicopters — quickly took up pursuit and the shootout ensued.
According to the online news site Aristegui Noticias, the after-action report indicated that 11 gunmen had been killed while no soldiers or policemen were wounded.
The authorities also confiscated 11 automatic weapons, several ammunition clips, tactical gear and communication devices. Six vehicles — one of which was burned out — were also impounded.
Soldiers and police continued to patrol the area, declaring the situation under control at around 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
La realidad superó a la ficción.
No es la escena de una película, sino de la narcoguerra ayer entre Fuerza Civil y el Cártel del Noreste #CDN, en límites de General Terán y Los Ramones, Nuevo León.
📸 Especial pic.twitter.com/HmtWfnZ6uJ— Jesús Rubén Peña (@revistacodigo21) September 26, 2024
A scene from the Wednesday shootout in Nuevo León.
Security experts cited by Infobae said the suspects likely were part of a drug cartel whose primary operations are in a different state. The after-action report also hinted that the suspects were “linked to a criminal cell,” but no crime gang was identified by name.
A document outlining the security strategy that Claudia Sheinbaum will carry out during the first 100 days after taking office on Oct. 1 identifies the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel of the Northeast as criminal organizations that operate in and around Nuevo León.
Factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been at war with each other since Sept. 9, but that violence has primarily been limited to the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa.
With reports from El Economista, Infobae, Milenio and Aristegui Noticias
