Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Clash with authorities leaves 11 armed civilians dead in Nuevo León

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.

Helicopters fly over white pickup trucks on a dirt road in Nuevo León.
Multiple helicopters provided authorities with air support the incident, which occurred roughly 50 km southeast of Monterrey. (Portal Tamaulipas/X)

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.

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

2 COMMENTS

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Three members of the Mexican navy in a speedboat on the ocean

15 Yucatán fishermen reported missing after Hurricane Milton

0
Four fishing boats with 15 fishermen from Progreso lost contact as Hurricane Milton grazed the Yucatán Peninsula's northern coast.
People buying fish at a market

Inflation continues decline in September, surpassing analysts’ expectations

0
Headline inflation in Mexico declined for a second consecutive month in September after rising to nearly 6% in July.
Split-screen image of the two officials who were robbed on the Highway 15D in Sinaloa, both taken from social media posts

2 Sinaloa officials robbed on Mazatlán-Culiacán highway

0
The officials were robbed on the same day while traveling on the same Sinaloa highway.