Nuevo León Police Kill 10 Suspected Criminals On The Monterrey - Nuevo Laredo Highway

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The Secretary of Security points out that the criminals attacked the agents, which began a 40-kilometer chase, with rollovers and shootings involved. The Prosecutor's Office has not commented on the case

State police at the site where 10 alleged criminals were killed, on the Monterrey - Nuevo Laredo highway, this Monday.

Agents of the Nuevo León Civil Force, the state police force, killed ten alleged criminals this Monday on the Monterrey - Nuevo Laredo highway, on the border with the State of Tamaulipas. The Secretary of Security of Nuevo León, Gerardo Palacios, reported the case on his Twitter account and in several interviews with local media. Four police officers were injured, none of them apparently seriously. The State Prosecutor's Office, in charge of investigating any violent death, has not reported the matter.

According to information that Palacios has given to the newspaper El Norte, the agents were patrolling the highway just a few kilometers north of Monterrey. It was after 3:00 p.m. At some point, they saw three vehicles with armed civilians and began to chase them. The alleged criminals threw caltrops, devices made of welded nails, onto the roadway to try to stop the agents. Near the municipality of Ciénega de Flores, the criminals fired for the first time. Between the tire blowouts and the gunfire, one of the police vans overturned.

The chase continued for 40 kilometers, until the town of Sabinas Hidalgo, near Tamaulipas. Between both groups they shot each other at least twice. According to Palacios, on those two occasions the 10 alleged criminals died, five from each group. Of the four officers injured, one was from the gunshots and the other three from the rollover. The police chief has listed on Twitter the equipment confiscated from civilians: three armored trucks, 12 long weapons, 100 magazines, a grenade and 13 bulletproof vests.

Palacios has not given any details of the police convoy. He has not explained how many agents and vehicles were there, if they were accompanied by troops from other corporations, from the Army, Navy or National Guard. He also has not said what type of vehicles they moved in, whether they were the black mamba trucks, like the ones they also use in neighboring Tamaulipas, a kind of armored tank. The silence of the Prosecutor's Office prevents knowing more details and limits all knowledge about the case.

The Secretary of Security has also not said a word about the assignment of the alleged criminal group involved. He has only said that it is a cell with influence in Salinas Victoria, Zuazua and Ciénega de Flores. For years, the Nuevo Laredo criminal group, the Northeast Cartel, heir to Los Zetas in the area, has participated in the management of crime in the region, from Nuevo Laredo to the south and east, to Miguel Alemán.

The border area between Nuevo León and Tamaulipas is one of the most complicated in the country. The roads that leave Monterrey to the north, specifically to Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, are part of the route that human traffickers use to take migrants to the United States. On secondary roads, adjacent to highways, authorities constantly find trucks, trailers and shelters with migrants. The battle of sailors and soldiers against crime in the northern zone, fierce as in few places, full of complaints about alleged executions, cases of torture and forced disappearances, ends up drawing the situation.

This Tuesday, the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, referred in passing to the matter. Asked about the violence that the country is experiencing and, specifically, about the threats that relatives of missing people are suffering in the north, he said: “Peace, that is what we all want, that there be no violence, no homicides, no attacks. Because it affects everyone. There are attacks between gangs. There are attacks that occur against the Armed Forces, or state police. And there is loss of human lives, of innocent people. So... Violence is irrational and we will continue seeking peace. “That's the position that we're in.”

“Yesterday, for example, ten members from organized crime lost their lives in Nuevo León, in a confrontation,” he added. “Persecution, overturns... 10. And just yesterday, in San Luis Potosí, two members of the Army lost their lives in an ambush. And others who are injured. All of that hurts a lot. Imagine those of us who are here for security. First the whole day of receiving reports and then getting up, just having coffee and you start receiving the briefings, the reports. So yes, yes, peace is being achieved,” he concluded.

Black Mamba military vehicle

El País